Beauty in the Beasts
by Black Stormraven
Summary: A retelling of the 2011 remake in which Jerry isn't alone in his hunt for blood. After all, a pair of vampires is more deadly than just one on his own. Alternate movie ending and OC. Title will make sense later on, I promise.
1. Chapter 1

The sun had just begun to set on the quiet Vegas suburb. Dinah stepped out into the warm evening air, protected from the fading sunlight by the houses clustered together so closely. The stars may not have been visible this close to the city, but the moon would make her appearance soon. Dinah had always loved the moon, even when she was still human; the ever-changing, yet always constant satellite was one of the few things that remained the same in a world where everything changed in the blink of an eye. The thought of moonrise put a smile on her lips.

The smile remained as she turned her head to find Jerry talking with their new neighbors; they looked like they were getting along. _Good,_ she thought. _Then this will be easy._ She walked to Jerry's side, her hand instinctively going to his shoulder while his arm possessively encircled her waist. Apparently she'd just walked in on the introductions. "And this is my ball and chain: Dinah. Dinah, this is Jane, Charley, and Amy."

Dinah reached out to shake every hand offered. "Very nice to meet you! Ignore Jerry; he thinks he's funny." She punctuated her statement with a playful elbow into his stomach. "'Ball and chain', my ass."

He laughed along, his fingers tightening on her hip bone. "Ah, you know it's true, sweetheart."

"Jerry works night construction on the strip," Jane explained to Charley and Amy. She turned to Dinah then, trying to keep the conversation going. "So, what do you do, Dinah? Do you work?"

"Yeah, I design websites and do some coding for others on the side."

"Oh cool!" Amy exclaimed.

"Well, it's mainly so Jerry and I can keep the same hours and actually see each other more than once a year. But it pays the bills and keeps my hands busy." She turned to Jerry as a sudden thought struck her. "Speaking of which, honey, when are you going to get rid of that dumpster? It's an eyesore."

"Actually, that's what I was just telling Jane." He looked at the other woman, sincerity pouring from his eyes and voice. "It'll be gone in the morning, I promise."

Charley finally spoke up, looking at the dumpster with suspicion. "What, uh, what are you working on?"

Dinah felt a twinge of fear at the tone of his question. _Does he know? How can he know? _Thankfully, Jerry answered quickly. "Foundation problems. I can't leave work at work, ya know."

His gaze soon fell to Amy, who was too focused on whatever Jane was saying. She didn't see the blatant hunger burning in his black eyes, but Dinah did. She fought down her annoyance with Jerry as she made up an excuse to leave these people. "We don't want to keep you guys. We've gotta move some more junk into the house. We'll see you around, yeah?"

They said their goodnights and went into their respective houses, Jerry making a show of copping a feel of Dinah's ass before they crossed the threshold. She turned on him once the door was firmly closed, the irritation she'd suppressed earlier coming back full-force. "_You_ need to work on your people skills, Jerry. One day you're going to look at the wrong person like that and you'll give us away."

Jerry slowly sauntered towards her, his arms open and his smirk colored with that maddening nonchalance that drove her crazy. "C'mon, babe," he said coolly. "You know no one's gonna find out just from a look. Besides, I think the blonde chick kinda liked it." His hands went to press against the door on either side of her head, pinning her.

Dinah ignored his proximity and the way his dark eyes slowly slid over her neck and body, determined to maintain her irritation until her point was made. "Number one, she didn't even notice, and number two, Charley already knows something's not quite right about you. I've got a feeling that Ed kid's been talking to him."

"So what?" Jerry said, his mind already on another subject. His fingers trailed down her throat and over her pouting lips; he liked it when she tried to be serious when it wasn't necessary. "Everyone already thinks Ed's crazy; no one's going to believe him."

"But Charley…"

"Shhh," he whispered softly, one long finger pressing her lips closed. "Dinah, you worry too much. By the time anyone links anything to us, we'll be long gone and forgotten. You" – he kissed her left temple slowly, just the way she liked – "need to" – a kiss on her right temple – "change clothes." He lowered his head so that his lips hovered just over hers, purposefully not making contact just to irritate her. She tried to close the distance on instinct, but his hands cradled her head and held it fast. "So let's go out and find someone to eat." He grinned at his pun; Dinah rolled her eyes. His hands went up into her hair and pulled it into a high, messy ponytail. Jerry admired his handiwork for a moment. "Pull your hair up, and wear that red shirt." A quick, hard kiss on the cheek, and he'd turned to go upstairs, leaving her with no room to argue.

Dinah remained still for a few seconds, trying to work out exactly what had happened. _That dick._ She smiled in spite of herself, electing to let the episode slide rather than dwell on it. Jerry was in a good mood tonight and she didn't want to ruin it; in fact, the glee of a hunt had begun to sizzle through her. She smirked to herself as she thought of putting on her infamous red shirt and teasing Jerry at every turn. Oh, yes. Fun was going to be had.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay, more POV shifts! -headdesk- I gotta get better at not doing that….**

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><p>Dinah felt Jerry's eyes on her every time he thought she couldn't see him. She'd pulled her hair high up onto her head just as he'd asked; the better to show off her bare neck. Her dark red top only barely covered her breasts, one thin strap holding it around her neck while another went across her back to hold it over her chest. At the moment, pressed in so tightly amongst everyone on the dance floor, she was grateful for the amount of exposed skin. The occasional draft from the AC helped dry the sweat that had begun to bead on her flesh.

Dinah moved her entire body to the slow, sultry beat of the music, making a spectacle for just one man whom she knew to be watching her. Anyone who'd tried to grind against her without permission soon found themselves looking at an empty space as she moved across the room faster than thought. She wanted to play tonight, not be played with. She wanted to find just one to bring home, one who didn't annoy the piss out of her in five seconds.

Every now and then she'd catch a glimpse of Jerry, always on the periphery of the crowd, his eyes burning with lust and hunger. She knew she was good at attracting their prey; she gave off a sense of security and safety that Jerry could never quite manage. She could have taken the first man who'd grabbed her thighs and called it a night, but it wasn't often she could play with the other vampire like this. She wanted to take her time with this hunt, drive Jerry crazy the way he did her. He was always too impatient, too uncontrolled in the heat of the moment. He let his instinct take over, but subtlety was always required when they were in public.

There. The girl in the corner with the pigtails and obscene amount of jewelry; she looked like a slutty version of Abby from _NCIS_. She would do. Dinah brought herself to her side in an instant and delicately placed a hand on the exposed shoulder. The girl turned to meet her eyes and froze under Dinah's emerald gaze. "Dance with us," she whispered in her ear, the lull in the song keeping her from having to shout.

The Abby-wannabe could do nothing in the face of Dinah's hypnosis but whisper back, "Who's 'us'?" as she was pulled against the other woman. Dinah simply smiled and laid her forearms on her prey's shoulders, her hands gently cradling her head. Her hips and breasts glided sinuously over the goth girl's torso in a perfect display of barely restrained lust. Their dance was soon interrupted by another body smoothly coming up behind the shorter girl: Jerry. His eyes burned black as he devoured Dinah with his gaze, the heat and promise in their depths making her shiver. He turned his attention to the other girl's bared throat and the way her pulse thundered just beneath the skin. He wrapped one arm around her waist while the other caressed Dinah's hip as she continued to move in time with the music.

"Abby" closed her eyes at the sensation of being sandwiched between two incredibly sexy, sensual people as these. She couldn't see the newcomer, but the firm body pressing against her back could in no way be mistaken for that of a chick. She raised her arms over her head to touch the man behind her. He lowered his head willingly, his breath ghosting hotly over her neck and shoulder. Her hands delved into his hair, a softness that rivaled that of the woman's breasts as they pressed against hers. She let out a gasp of surprise when the man touched the tip of his tongue to her neck. _Is this really happening?_ she thought sluggishly. She felt her head being pulled forward, away from the man's sinful mouth, and a pair of the supplest lips she'd ever felt covered her own. But something was wrong; the taste of iron and salt slipped over her tongue and down her throat. She tried to pull away from the woman, but the man behind her prevented her from moving so much as an inch. Her thoughts grew hazy, her mind and body becoming languid and soupy as if she'd just shot up three syringes of heroin. A veil fell over her mind, and she became theirs.

Dinah released "Abby's" lips and looked into her clouded eyes, admiring her unnatural skills of persuasion. "Come with us," she whispered into her ear, purposefully brushing her lips against Jerry's as she spoke. He growled low in his throat at her teasing, trying to nip the offending lips when she pulled back. Fixing him with a sultry glare, she wrapped an arm around the girl's waist and led her to the exit. He licked his lower lip in anticipation of the moment his teeth would break her skin and send her hot, delectable blood into his gut.

The drive home was quiet, "Abby's" head resting on Dinah's shoulder and Dinah's right hand on Jerry's leg. "That Brewster kid is watching us," he muttered as they stepped out of the garage. "Window."

Dinah glanced up at the boy's silhouette in the ground floor window and smiled. "Then let's give him something to watch." She quickly whispered her plan into Jerry's ear as she led "Abby" to the door. Jerry grinned darkly before opening the door and ushering the women inside, Dinah departing with a sensual kiss.

Jerry made his way to the Brewster house and knocked on the side door. A thud reached his ears (presumably Charley knocking something over in surprise) before the door swung in to reveal the cautious teen. "Hey guy," he said lightly.

"H-hey," Charley replied nervously. The scent of his apprehension filled the vampire's nostrils, almost as intoxicating as Dinah when she'd been undulating like a serpent in that club.

"Listen, can you do me a solid? Dinah and I have company over tonight and we're all out of beer. Can you spot us? I'll pay you back twofold for a sixer."

"Uh, s-sure. Lemme see what we've got in the fridge." He turned back inside, but made no move to invite his neighbor in.

Jerry swallowed his irritation. "Nice kitchen," he said flatly. "Good cabinet work."

Charley kept glancing at him, knowing something wasn't quite right with the new neighbor, but steadfastly denying the truth he already knew. "Hope Bud's okay." His skittish eyes moved so quickly he miscalculated and dropped a bottle of beer.

"You want me to help with that?"

"No, no, no," Charley said hurriedly. "I mean, uh…it's fine. I'll get it. Looks like it's just ognna be a five-pack. Here ya go."

Only the beer passed over the threshold, much to Jerry's annoyance. "Ya know, you got a lot on your shoulders, kid. Your dad ducked out on you, yeah? It's subtle but there's a kind of…neglect coming from your mom. It gives off a scent. And your girl. She's ripe! I bet there's a line of guys just waiting to tap that. But it's up to you to protect them. Because there are a lot of bad people in the world, Charley."

"Jerry." Dinah's soft voice cut through the suddenly still night air, making Charley jump. He and Jerry both turned to look up at the open window on the second floor where Dinah leaned out, her shirt dangerously close to slipping off."'Abby' and I are getting bored without you. You coming back sometime tonight, darlin'?" Her smiling eyes lighted on Charley then. "Hey, Charley."

The kid glanced between his neighbors, seeming to put two and two together when Jerry turned back to him with a smirk. "Yeah, it's exactly what you think it is. Thanks for the beer, kid." As he made his way off the Brewster property, he called up to Dinah: "You girls go ahead and get started. I'll be up in a minute."

Dinah's half-smile was hot and lustful as she watched her…whatever Jerry was to her cross their lawn. Her hungry eyes turned back to Charley one last time before she closed the window. "G'night, doll."

Charley slowly closed the door behind him, still shaken from his close encounter with Jerry. Although what Ed had told him earlier in the day had to just be his former friend finally losing it, the smallest niggle of doubt lingered in the back of his mind. Something was definitely off about those two, and not just that they liked threesomes. There was something visceral, almost wild in their eyes whenever they looked at him. He glanced out the hall window on the way to his room and realized he could see directly into his neighbors' bedroom.

Dinah's hands caressed another woman's face as if studying her. The stranger's head soon fell back in what looked to be bliss when Dinah's lips touched her neck. Jerry sauntered into the room and crossed to the window, his eyes still fixed on the two women. He set the five beers on the vanity by the door…then looked directly at Charley. He smiled and winked knowingly as he lowered the blackout shade, blocking everything from the teen's view.

Jerry turned back to the women, not bothering to hide the lust in his gaze or posture anymore. His attention locked on Dinah as she licked up the woman's neck. After all the teasing she'd tormented him with that night, he crumbled. He grasped the back of her head, wrenched her away from their meal, and viciously attacked her lips with his. She responded just as ferociously when his tongue parted her lips and stroked every delicious inch of her mouth. She buried her hands in his hair, "Abby" forgotten for the moment, and gripped him tightly against her. Jerry reached for "Abby" with one hand, the other sliding down Dinah's back to cup her backside, pulling her roughly against his hips. Her groan of pleasure resonated through their mouths and chests.

He pulled away in revenge for her taunting him earlier, her lips still seeking his out of pure instinct. His smug smile showed his fangs now, such a little thing that he knew made Dinah's heart miss a beat. After nearly a century with him she never grew tired of seeing him in all his feral glory; that alone made him glad he'd turned her all those years ago. She never shied from him, instead reveling in his primal nature as much as he did. Sometime during his study of her, Dinah had closed the distance between them and licked his lips just the way he liked. He shuddered in her arms at the sensual contact while his grip on her rear tightened painfully. Instead of returning her advance, he lunged for "Abby". His wickedly sharp teeth ripped through her flesh with ease, spraying Dinah with dark arterial blood from her carotid.

Jerry quickly drank his fill (as he always did) and let the girl's body fall unceremoniously to the floor. He went to lick the blood from his hands, but Dinah held one firmly in her grasp. He watched with rapt fascination as she made a show of cleaning his palm and fingers with her tongue. She knew how appealing she looked to him in that moment: her eyes closed in rapture, her mouth working wonders on his skin, the right side of her face covered in fresh blood. The sight of her just then was more exhilarating than any hunt he could recall. His composure remained on shaky footing until she drew a finger between her lips and let her tongue play over it. That broke him.

Their mouths met again, this time with the hot and tangy taste of fresh blood mingled with their own unique scents and flavors. Jerry lifted her from the floor as easily as he could a leaf and practically threw her on the bed. Sunrise remained hours away, more than enough time for them to leave each other breathless and exhausted, yet still wanting more. They would deal with "Abby" later when they weren't preoccupied with more important matters…like seeing who could draw blood first or who could go the longest without screaming in savage ecstasy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hooray for updating! This one's gonna be a beast (it's a two-parter, really), but I really want to explore Dinah's background and how she and Jerry met. Also, just want to mention I used a bit of 1920s slang in this chapter, so if something looks or sounds weird, blame our American predecessors for coming with terms like "bee's knees" and "cat's pajamas" xD**

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><p><em>Dinah stumbled into the gin mill on shaky legs. Her hair was a mess and she'd be sporting a brand new bruise on the left side of her face very soon, but she didn't care too much about that at the moment. She'd just shot Donald in the chest. She'd shot and, more than likely, killed the man she'd once loved. The sweet, wonderful guy she'd fallen for had turned out to be a dirty rat. How could she not have seen that he was married? How could she have been so stupid as to let herself fall back into second place yet again in life? <em>

_ She forced herself to walk to the bar and demanded the strongest liquor the tender had in stock. Rather than wait for him to grab a glass as well, she took the entire bottle from his hand and took two swallows of the foul stuff. Recovering quickly from the burning sensation going down her throat, she spied an empty table towards the far wall and plopped unladylike in the sole chair. She just didn't care anymore, not about the way she looked, the fact that she was now only adding to her rap sheet by drinking alcohol (__**goddamn Prohibition**__), the splinters that dug into her thighs, nor her relocation to a prison cell as soon as the police caught up with her. Nothing mattered anymore. She'd thought she'd finally found some bit of happiness with Donald, something to keep her sane even as the years of anger and bitterness had built up within her. But even that had been snatched from her…no. It had never been hers. She had been nothing more than a body, a personal call girl whenever he couldn't stand the wife anymore. Could anyone blame her for shooting the bastard, especially after he'd hit her across the face when she said it was all over between them? __**No good deed goes unpunished, I suppose**__, she thought sourly._

_ Dinah began to lose herself in the bottle (whiskey, apparently), her limbs stilling as the liquor burned through her. She didn't notice the lone patron leaning against the wall behind her until he spoke. "You might want to take it easy on ol' Jim, doll," he drawled slowly. He smirked when she jumped and twisted in her seat to face him._

_ "Excuse me?"_

_ He pointed at the bottle. "Never saw a dame put away Jim Beam like that." He eased a vacant chair away from the neighboring table and pulled it up to join her. "Must be something really bad to make a good-lookin' dame turn to the hooch."_

_ She quickly gave him the once-over, taking in the slicked-back hair with a loose lock having fallen across his forehead and into dark eyes, the pale skin, and the way he seemed to look straight through her. She couldn't deny he was quite a looker, however. __**No. No, Dinah. Not again.**__ "If it's all the same, I'd rather be alone right now, stranger."_

_ "Well, it's not all the same to me," he replied confidently. _

_ Dinah glared at him, not liking the smugness in his tone one bit. "Go chase yourself, Mac. I ain't got time for no lounge lizards tonight." She didn't know what she was expecting him to do, but laugh certainly wasn't one of the options. "What's so funny?"_

_ "It's been a long time since a woman told me to scram," he answered, honesty in his voice and eyes, but something else, something burning, just beneath the surface._

_ "So do it." Dinah really didn't need to get involved in small talk with this guy, even if he (and the liquor) did make her briefly forget her current predicament._

_ "I think I'll stay right here," he countered, that smirk still in place. "Good lookin' girl like yourself all alone in a joint like this; I figure there's got to be some hell of a story there. Want to share?"_

_ "Not particularly." Rather than leave at her coldness, he stayed put and simply watched her as she continued to empty the bottle. Something about his gaze made her uneasy, like there was a caged animal scratching at the gates, but the whiskey eventually took its toll on her inhibitions and loosened her tongue. "I just found out my guy wasn't mine at all." The stranger's gaze, which had been scanning the speakeasy just seconds before, immediately shifted back to her. "Rat bastard was married; I was just his hot piece on the side. We got into it when I told him I didn't want anything else to do with him. He left me a nice little going-away present, too." She gingerly touched her cheek where Donald's had landed, envisioning the purple and black splotch she could already feel forming. _

_ The stranger reached across her and turned her head toward him completely, a gesture that stunned her with its intimacy. His fingers brushed softly over her face, light as feathers, as his eyes hardened. "He hit you?"_

_ Dinah flinched at the growl his voice had become. She'd never heard anyone make a sound so animalistic, let alone on her behalf. "Yeah," she breathed. "But I gave him a bigger present thanks to my friend Mr. Colt." She saw how his eyes widened and pulled away from his touch, thinking she'd said too much. "Anyway, the cops'll find me soon. You won't wanna be around when they do, mister."_

_ He chuckled darkly, a smooth, achingly sensual sound that cut through her liquor-induced haze. "Let 'em come," he said confidently. "I have a way of handling the boys in blue."_

_ "And what way would that be?"_

_ "I tell them to go away and they do."_

_ She couldn't help it. The laugh escaped her lips before she could stop it. This man had to be out of his mind, he was so ridiculous! "Is that right? And how, pray tell, does that work for you and no one else? You got some magic powers or something?"_

_ "Something like that," he replied coolly, not a hint of joking._

_ Dinah simply looked at him for a beat, one part of her wanting desperately to believe it, the larger part telling her to start running right now. She laughed again, this time more nervous than amused, and reached for the near-empty bottle. "Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, Mac."_

_ "You want me to prove it?" Even drunk, she didn't miss the glint in his dark eyes and the way his mouth turned up at one corner in a smirk that was quickly becoming very appealing to her. He turned away from her to the closest patron, the man just starting to get liquored up. "You," the stranger said, his voice hardening into a tone so different from the one he'd been using with her. The other man looked up with a glare. He opened his mouth to tell the stranger off, but closed it as his face became as blank as a doll's. "Go walk into that wall and see yourself out the back door." _

_ Dinah watched in a mix of wonder and horror as the man did as instructed, his face audibly hitting the stone wall before he found the back exit of the joint. She slowly looked back to the stranger, a ball of nervous excitement growing in the pit of her stomach. "How'd you make him do that?"_

_ She gasped and recoiled slightly when he turned back to her. His eyes had become completely black and his wolfish smile revealed twin incisors as sharp as needles. Her eyes flitted around the room in an effort to avoid his piercing gaze. "I really need to lay off the hooch," she whispered under her breath. Her curiosity, however, wouldn't be so easily ignored. She lowered her voice further so only he could hear her. "You're really a…a vampire?" The man raised his fingers to his forehead then extended the hand to her in confirmation, his smirk never leaving his face. "What's it like?"_

_ "What's what like?" Now he was just teasing._

_ "To be…what you are. To have no fear. To spit in the face of God." Try as she might, she couldn't keep the wonder from her voice._

_ He laughed, a genuine sound that drew more than a few stares from the other people in the bar and made Dinah's heart flutter. He leaned closer so that his breath wafted over her face when he spoke conspiratorially. "I can show you instead, doll."_

_ It was Dinah's turn to laugh now, mostly from the absurdity of the entire situation. "You're a piece of work, you know that? Thanks, but no thanks. I quite like not bursting into flames whenever I step outside."_

_ "A small price to pay when you think about it," he countered. "You get to control your own life, go wherever you want, do whatever you want, and no one can make you do anything if you don't want to. You answer to no one."_

_ "What about the whole needing blood to survive thing? What happens when the food source runs scarce?"_

_ "Look around, Dinah. At the rate everyone's jumping into bed with each other the human race won't go extinct for a long time. Plenty of food…" He glanced at the other patrons, a hunger flashing on his face for an instant._

_ She suddenly froze. "How do you know my name?" She certainly didn't remember introducing herself._

_ The stranger grinned before turning back to look at her. "I've got my methods…Dinah." Something about the way he said her name made her shiver. It was possessive, primal, and unbearably erotic. She felt the edges of her mind go fuzzy, and not from the copious amount of alcohol. Looking directly into his fathomless eyes she found herself unable to tear herself from his gaze. __**Must be how a rabbit feels just before a wolf grabs it for dinner.**__ She became vaguely aware of his hand lighting upon her cheek, drawing her closer and closer to those haunting eyes and lethal teeth. His thumb brushed over her skin, full of promise. When she saw he meant to touch his mouth to her she tried to pull away; she didn't know if he meant to kiss her or bite her, and both seemed so wrong at the moment. He held her firm, however. "Don't fight me," he whispered. She obeyed, her mind trying to keep up with what was happening. _

_ His lips had almost touched hers when a knock on the table shattered the silence around them. Dinah jumped at the sound, pulling away from the stranger as her vision cleared (more or less) and she returned to herself. He let out a low groan at the intrusion, seeming more annoyed than embarrassed as she was. They both looked to the third person who had knocked, Dinah's head ducking down as she registered the dark blue uniform and glinting silver badge. "Dinah Morris?" the cop said with an almost bored tone. So she'd been found; that didn't take long. And by a cop who was on the joint's payroll; the owner would have sold her out anyway just to stay open. "Miss Morris, you're going to need to come with me."_

_ Dinah didn't answer; she couldn't. Her mouth refused to cooperate with her. The stranger spoke instead. "Now why would the lady want to do that, bull?"_

_ The cop glanced at him but kept his focus on Dinah. "That ain't really any of your business, is it, mister. Miss Morris, I'm gonna have to place you in custody on suspicion of murder."_

_ She tried to sink further into her chair as the hard reality hit her full force. She'd killed her lover. She'd KILLED a man! She fought back the harsh sting of tears even as the dark-haired man came to her rescue. "Don't know what you been hearing but Dinah's been here with me all night. When would she have had time to kill somebody?" That made her look up. She stared at the stranger as she tried to understand why he would cover for her. He looked right back at her with a boyish grin, not a care in the world about lying to a cop's face._

_ The bull looked at the man fully now. "We know she was involved with the stiff before his murder, and we got two witnesses saying they heard yelling and a gunshot from the apartment just before this woman"-he pointed at Dinah-"left the building. No mistaking."_

_ "I dunno who you been talking to, sir," he replied easily, "but Dinah's been with me all evening. You really wanna argue this?" The cop looked ready to argue indeed, but something stopped him. His eyes went as blank as those of the other man who'd looked directly at the stranger. "You're going to go back to your precinct and tell your boss the case is cold. No one saw anything; there was no woman. The stiff was heard yelling at thin air in his apartment before shooting himself with his own pistol. You got that?" The cop nodded dumbly. "Now take a walk, bull." _

_ Dinah watched, stunned once again, as the cop did as he was told and turned on his heel. She continued watching him even after he'd disappeared through the door. She laughed. This whole night was just too ridiculous to be true; she had to be dreaming…or in some kind of booze-induced fantasy. "Why on Earth would you tell him to do that?"_

_ The stranger shrugged. "He annoyed me," he said simply, as if that explained everything. She saw his eyes fall to her neck, that hunger that thrilled and terrified her returning to his gaze. "Now, back to where we were…"_

_ She stood before he could touch her cheek again, wobbling only once before regaining her balance. The man…vampire…whatever stood with her. She didn't realize just how tall he was, or how lean; the suit he wore so elegantly did little to hide his slender form. "Yeah, thanks for covering for me, but I gotta get home. I gotta get out of town before your little voodoo wears off and they come looking for me again."_

_ "I'll at least walk you home," he offered eagerly. "These streets ain't safe for anyone lately, let alone you."_

_ "'Preciate it, but no thanks." Dinah did her best to avoid his searching gaze. "Don't need to get anyone else involved in my mess. I can manage on my own."_

_ "Can I at least visit you before you split town?" __**This guy just doesn't quit!**_

_ She couldn't help it; she laughed again. "Tell you what, if you can find me, you can visit." __**Why not? If this is really a dream or hallucination or whatever, what's the harm?**_

_He smiled again, still brimming with sexuality, but also a hint of genuine pleasure. "Is that a promise, Dinah?"_

_She waved him off as she handed a wad of bills over to the bartender for her drink. "Yeah, sure. Why not? It's not like I got anything else to lose." She had made it to the doorway when she stopped. She turned to the stranger, finding him only inches from her and still looking at her with those smoldering eyes. "Never did get your name, stranger. Only fair since you already know mine…"_

_She didn't flinch when he took her hand (she felt mighty proud of herself for not jumping at the contact) and brought it to his lips, gently kissing the back of it. __**A bit old-fashioned, but I'll take it**__, she thought ironically. "Name's Jerry, sweetheart."_

"_Jerry," she tried, liking the way his name felt rolling off her tongue. "Nice to meet you." An awkward pause passed between them, Dinah growing uncomfortable under his scrutiny. She cleared her throat and removed her hand from his. "Well, g'nite, Jerry. See ya around." _

_She never heard him whisper "Sooner than you know, dollface" to the night air, never saw the way he watched her with blatant lust as she walked down the street. He ran his tongue over his teeth with a grin, turning back into the bar to bide his time._

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><p><strong>What you guys think? Reviews are love!<br>**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I lied. Dinah's background is going to be a three-parter. I really didn't intend for her story to be so long, but it just got away from me. I hope you guys like it anyway!**

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><p><em>Dinah had made it home safely, but didn't bother to change into her nightclothes. She tried to grab a few essentials and throw them into a suitcase she'd taken from her parents' home when she'd left all those years ago. The thought of her parents made her stop midstep. The skirt and hairbrush she'd been holding fell to the floor as she brought her hands to her mouth to stifle her cries. Her parents had never loved her as a mother and father should love a child. They'd always preferred her older brother, their firstborn, their planned-for child, over her. She sat on the edge of her bed as long-repressed memories bubbled to the surface of her mind.<em>

_She recalled the first time she'd run away. She'd only been ten years old then and she'd had enough. Her mother constantly degraded and verbally abused her, her father outright ignoring her as if she weren't even in the room. She'd packed a suitcase and left their home in the morning, but returned two days later after having been picked up by the police. The officer had walked her to the door and stood beside her when her mother answered the bell. The woman hadn't even known her daughter had been missing. She'd just yanked her inside and shut the door in the cop's face. Dinah had been punished by not getting her dinner that night…or the next. For not wanting her around, her parents had always looked for some way to punish her for something._

_Dinah had left her parents and her brother for good less than a week after that incident. She'd remembered the deli shop owner a few blocks away who'd always been so nice to her whenever she'd gone there with her mother. His name was Paul, and he'd always had the warmest, biggest smile on his face whenever he'd see her. She'd appeared on his doorstep behind his shop. She must have looked rather pitiful since he'd simply taken her in without another word. His wife, Rosa, had been a stern woman, but she had treated Dinah better than anyone related by blood. She'd been made an apprentice to them, learning the trade from the inside out. Those had been the happiest years for her._

_Until she was seventeen and the Cosa Nostra decided they wanted in on the profits. Paul and Rosa had flat out refused to hand over their hard-earned money. That had been their biggest mistake. Dinah had been out on an errand for Rosa when the gunmen came to the shop. When she'd returned, she'd found police and onlookers swarming the shop, the smell of blood and ozone nearly making her vomit right then. She didn't cry that night, the shock still setting in as she realized she was once again alone in the world. The tears wouldn't come until three days later as she sat in the empty home. She had no one to love her, no means of supporting herself, nothing at all. She couldn't go back to her family, had no friends to turn to._

_She'd broken down on the floor and cried until her eyes had gone dry and her throat burned. She'd forced herself to stand up, gather what little she could (including a photo of Paul and Rosa that they'd had taken the day they opened their deli; it had always sat on the table in the living room and always made her smile when she saw how happy they'd been to start their own business), and walk out the door without a backward glance._

_Even now, as she sat on the edge of her bed, she stared at the photo of Paul and Rosa. She tried to let herself remember the good times, the times she felt like she was actually wanted by someone. All she wanted was to love and be loved in return; was that really such an impossible request? She looked up and around at the apartment Donald had set her up in when they'd become involved. It was a nice place, better than the rat hole she'd been in before, but she needed to get away from it. Once again, she needed to start her life all over from scratch. The thought should have terrified her, but after doing it twice before, she could handle it._

_She let out a long sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair to tame it and lay back on the bed. Starting over could wait until she'd had a nap. She couldn't deny she was exhausted; her brain needed just a few moments of rest to not think, to let everything drift away for a while. Keeping the photo of her foster parents close to her heart, she curled onto her side and let thoughts of the mysterious Jerry character fill her mind in an oddly soothing manner. Perhaps in the turmoil of everything that had happened that day, he was the closest thing she had to a distraction. Who was he really? Where did he come from? His fathomless eyes and boyish smirk were the last things she saw in her mind's eye before sleep claimed her._

_Jerry had waited in the speakeasy for a few hours after Dinah had left. Something about that woman intrigued him. Perhaps it was the fact that she hadn't screamed when he'd revealed his nature, or that she still tried to blow him off even after she knew what he was, or that she had a dark streak in her that could rival his if nurtured properly. Sure, the smell of freshly spilled blood that surrounded her had gotten his attention at first, but there was something else to her that kept him from simply dragging her out the back door and ripping her throat open. Besides, after three hundred years on his own, he'd begun to think about finding himself a companion. He wanted someone who could match him in every way, not merely some underling; he'd had those in the past and they never worked out well. But Dinah, she could be so much more._

_Unable to contain himself any longer, Jerry slipped from the bar unnoticed. Dinah had said he could visit her if he found where she lived…not exactly a challenge. All he had to do was follow the delicious perfume of blood she wore so flawlessly. She might as well have painted a bright yellow line behind her as she made her way home. He followed the scent trail three blocks over, four down until it led him up the stoop of an apartment building. Public buildings never proved any trouble for him to enter, and now with Dinah's earlier invitation neither would her private residence. He licked his lips at the thought of being able to freely cross the threshold to her._

_Jerry continued up three flights of stairs until the scent disappeared behind a door numbered 309: Dinah's apartment. He took a deep breath of the fading smell, his eyes closing in pleasure. He raised a clawed hand to the doorframe and dragged a single finger down the wood, leaving a deep groove as the only evidence of his restraint. The simple lock proved no match for his unnatural strength; he merely twisted the doorknob hard enough to break the deadlock clean in half. His steps were quiet as he slowly passed through the doorway, the usual wards that prevented his entrance from any other home no longer a barrier to him. He barely looked around the room as he made his way down the short hallway to the source of the scent, to Dinah._

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><p><strong>Next up, Jerry makes his move!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh my freakin' god, I really, truly, honestly did not intend this part of the story to be so long! (Long chapter is long.) Either way, this is the conclusion of Dinah's story and how she met Jerry. After this, it's back to the movie timeline. Hope you guys enjoy!**

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><p><em>Jerry's blacker-than-Hell eyes raked over Dinah's prone form, bathed in the harsh lights that poured through her window, even as he forced himself to control his transformation. He wanted to charm her, seduce her, not frighten her away for good. A shaky breath escaped his lungs at the sight of her, so innocent and unaware. He stalked closer to her bedside, taking pleasure in simply watching her for a few moments. His gaze lighted upon the photograph she clutched to her chest. Curious, he moved to her side and gently removed the frame from her grasp. He looked at the smiling faces of the man and woman in it with a blank stare; these people obviously meant something to Dinah, but he didn't know what…nor did he particularly care at the moment. <em>

_Jerry placed the picture on the nightstand without another thought for it and lowered himself to the mattress, careful to not jostle her awake. Her head was turned away from him, hiding the bruise he knew now blossomed on the other side of her face thanks to her no-good ex. His sharp eyes picked out the dried trail of tears that fell down her cheek and he frowned at the sight of it. Once he'd gotten his way she'd never have reason to cry again; he'd make damn sure of that. He reached out to her face and gently brushed a fingertip over the nearly invisible tear track, moving a lock of hair out of the way as the track continued its descent down to her neck. Her blood thrummed like music in his ears, the throb of her pulse against his finger threatening to snap his control as easily as he'd done the lock on her door. His jaw ached in anticipation of locking around her throat and piercing the soft flesh. _

_He snatched his hand back when Dinah stirred beneath his touch. Her emerald eyes fluttered open, but did not fix upon him until she rolled over and her legs hit his back. She started, fully awake now, and raised herself up to face him. Her breath came in quick gasps even as the blood rushed to her face in girlish embarrassment. "H-how did you get in here?" she asked quietly._

"_I walked in," he answered half-honestly. _

"_I thought vampires had to be invited inside someone's home."_

_Jerry smiled earnestly, his fangs glinting dangerously in the artificial light. "I __**was**__ invited, if you recall, Dinah. 'If you can find me, you can visit' were your exact words, I believe. Guess what?" He leaned in conspiratorially. "Found you."_

_He watched as she tried to remember the words she had indeed spoken in her pseudo-drunk state only hours before, chuckling softly at her exclamation of "aw hell!" She raised a hand to her forehead in a vain attempt to rid herself of the headache he knew she had to be suffering. She hissed when her palm made contact with the ghastly bruise on her cheek. Jerry quickly took her hand and drew it away from her face, hooking the fingers of his other hand under her chin and turning her to him. He pretended to study the purple and black skin, but all of his focus was on the way she looked at him now, as if he were something from a dream…or a nightmare. He reveled in the attention regardless. "So what happens now?" she whispered in the dark._

"_Whatever you want," he replied, raising his eyes to meet hers. In her gaze he saw a world of promise, of not having to be alone anymore, of expanding his ranks once more with a partner. He saw someone to shoulder the weight of immortality with him, not just another victim. And the way she looked at him, like he was the answer to her unspoken prayers in a world that constantly rejected her and kicked her down. There was no desperation in those green depths, only hope and a bit of excitement. For the first time in a very long time, he quite liked having someone look at him like that. He gingerly touched the bruise on her cheek. "I can take care of this if you want."_

"_How?" Oh, how that breathy innocence intoxicated him._

"_I could make you like me, if you want." She tried to pull away, but his strong hands lightly kept her in place. "Just think about it. You'd never grow old, never die. All your injuries would heal in seconds, and you'd never answer to anyone."_

"_Except you," she finished._

_Jerry grinned smugly at her perceptiveness. "Well, that's a given. But is it worse than having a louse that would hurt you like this for a boyfriend? I might be a killer, but I'm not a fuckin' bastard."_

_Dinah hesitated for a beat. She didn't know anything about this guy! What if he was just blowing hot air and would just kill her outright? What if he did indeed make her like him only to make her his slave, not a partner? Could she live with herself if that was what came to pass? Then again, could she keep living the way she was now, on the lam for killing her lover, always being reminded of how she wasn't good enough to be first in anyone else's life? She cautiously lifted a hand to his face and touched his cheek. She shouldn't have been surprised by the coolness of his skin, but she gasped just a bit at the feel of it. When he didn't object, she grew bolder, her other hand joining the first as she explored his features, his eyes closing at the sensation. She memorized the arch of his brows, the curve of his jawline, the feel of his hair as it tickled her knuckles, the shape of his nose. She ended at his mouth, those sinful lips parting in pleasure as she traced them with her forefingers._

_A sudden thought came to her when he opened his eyes, now fully black and glittering with hunger against the darkness. "What about the downsides? Don't you vampires have some kind of phobia about mirrors? And trying to get a tan kills you? Isn't there something about sleeping in coffins filled with dirt, too?" She'd heard about the English book __**Dracula**__ that had all those seemingly bizarre rules for bloodsuckers. She'd tried to read it once, but never made it past the first chapter._

_Jerry stilled her questions with a single finger over her lips. To an outside observer, the touch would have seemed chaste, but there was nothing innocent about it to Dinah. "Yes, the sunlight can kill us, but like I told you in the joint it's a small price to pay for the power you could have. And I sleep in a dirt-free bed, thank you very much." They smiled together at the way he phrased that._

"_And the whole no reflection thing? I'm bad enough at putting on my makeup everyday even with three mirrors."_

"_You'll learn to do without." Truthfully, his patience had begun to wane; he wanted her and she was stalling. "What's it gonna be, Dinah? You wanna keep living like this until you finally die of old age, or do you want to be something more?"_

_Dinah tried to think of another objection, but his hands had started caressing her skin and hair in a most wonderful manner. If she'd thought him brimming with sex appeal in the bar, now it was spilling over and consuming her like a wave. She closed her eyes against the feel of his fingers burying themselves in her hair, the quiet creak of the bedframe as he shifted closer to her, the way his harsh breath echoed in her ears and danced over her lips. "Kids," she whispered suddenly. "What if I want kids someday?"_

"_Dinah," he rumbled. She opened her eyes to meet his and gasped at the naked emotion in those black pits. "Stop thinking." And then his mouth was over hers. His kiss was slow, languid even, but the single most erotic thing Dinah had ever experience in her life. His lips coaxed hers to open for him and he painted the inside of her mouth with his tongue, the taste of alcohol and what she assumed to be blood from countless years of feeding leaving her breathless. Everything about this man was nothing short of primal, animalistic, and unbearably sexy. The suit he wore was just a cover so he could walk in a crowd without drawing unwanted attention, a true wolf in sheep's clothing. One of his hands left the warmth of her hair in favor of the curve of her waist and roughly pulled her against him. Her arms went around his neck on instinct and held him closer. She reluctantly pulled away from his mouth with a small cry when she felt a sharp pain in her side. Looking down, she saw his fingers had become something like talons and were gripping her waist in an effort to control himself. She covered his hand with hers and returned to his lips, kissing them tenderly. _

_It was Jerry's turn to pull away, stunned by the affectionate gesture. He looked at her with wide eyes, searching for any kind of deception or trickery. He found none. Dinah smiled back at him and stroked the wayward piece of hair from his forehead. "So," she said softly, as if afraid to break the spell that had been cast over her, "what's it really like to drink blood?"_

_A triumphant smile bloomed on his face at her concession. "You tell me, doll." He removed the taloned hand from her waist and brought it up to her lips, revealing drops of her own blood on the wickedly sharp claws. She looked at the ruby drops not with disgust, but curiosity. She took the hand in hers and let her tongue dart out to catch the blood from his fingers. The taste wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be; metallic, yes, but not much worse than the tap water. She heard him gasp at the intimate contact and allowed herself a small smile. Her ego and confidence boosted by the sound, she licked at his fingers eagerly, cleaning them within moments._

_Jerry couldn't restrain himself anymore. He crushed his lips to hers once again, this time violently and holding nothing of his lust back from her. Such force would have frightened anyone else, but not Dinah. She responded just as vigorously and with equal zeal, going so far as to nip at his lower lip. He growled deep in his chest and tore his mouth from her, his breathing coming in heavy, labored pants. Dinah did not shy away from him, however. In fact, she pulled her long ebony hair to one side and tilted her head, fully exposing the curve of her throat to him. She took a deep breath to prepare herself for his bite; she certainly didn't expect him to kiss her shoulder with something akin to reverence. Even as his grip on her body grew tighter, his mouth traced over her flesh with aching slowness._

_He teased her skin with lips and tongue, letting his breath waft over her for good measure. He let the tip of his nose follow her neck, almost nuzzling her. He tried to be gentle, he really did. But when he felt Dinah's lips wrap around his earlobe and draw it into her mouth, he snarled in near-painful pleasure and all thoughts of tenderness flew right out the window. He opened his mouth wide and sank both tooth and fang into her pliant skin, the hot spurt of blood sliding down his throat causing him to groan in satisfaction. He distantly heard her cry of pain, felt her grasp on his head and back turn into deathgrips, the press of her body against his as she arched her back, but he ignored everything save for the taste of her blood. Perhaps her willingness and his own excitement had made her blood seem sweeter than that of his usual prey; whatever the cause, he loved it._

_He drank greedily as if he'd not eaten in days, but was careful to not waste much. He became aware of her slackening grip and the way she slowly grew heavier in his arms and he forced his thirst back under control. Keeping his mouth on her throat, he lowered her to the mattress as he licked away the last of her life's blood. With his instincts back under his command, the ancient vampire pulled away from her and observed his handiwork. Her chest moved only slightly with shallow breaths, her skin white as chalk, lips parted, and her eyes closed._

_Jerry leaned back over her and sliced his bottom lip open with a single fang. He took her upper lip between his, forcing his cut one into her mouth to let the blood drip onto her tongue. He smirked against her as she began to fully awaken, her kiss becoming more and more aggressive as she sought out his blood. He soon forced her to stop, placing two fingers to her lips and removing his mouth from hers, but she would have none of it._

_Dinah took him by the shoulders and rolled him beneath her, her skirt riding up her thighs as her knees went to either side of his waist. Jerry could only watch in amazement as she took to her new nature so quickly. His grin remained in place even when she tore his jacket and shirt open and slashed at his chest with newly sharpened nails. She attacked his skin with such ferocity he actually had a difficult time keeping her in place. But how he loved it! He wanted her teeth in his neck, to feel her lips wrapped around his throat as he ushered her into her new life. He cut down the side of his neck with a nail and watched enraptured as Dinah's eyes latched onto the fresh wound and she lunged for it with gusto. He groaned at the sensation of her body stretched out along his and her fangs buried in his flesh. He began to laugh at the idea that he'd finally found not just a companion, but a mate in this woman. She was magnificent!_

_Too soon for his liking, Dinah released his neck and rolled from atop him. Her body curled in on itself as it went through the final stages of transformation, her mouth open in a silent scream as pain rippled through her from the inside out. He didn't hold her even as she shook in agony, but waited for his neck to mend itself before turning to face her. She lay still as stone beside him, her skin deathly cold to the touch. Jerry smiled. He gently took hold of her shoulder and kissed it softly, his smile still in place. He released her when she suddenly sat straight up, her back as straight and stiff as a steel beam. Her eyes snapped closed against the light that he knew to be too bright for her now. Her breath had become shallow, but it was enough to sustain her. "Did it work?" she asked quietly, turning to him at the sound of his chuckle._

_Fresh blood sprayed over the white sheets and onto the floor when he swiped at the shoulder he'd just kissed seconds ago, his claws ripping through the muscle and sinew and shattering bone. She cried out at the pain, but soon gasped in wonder as she watched the bone knit itself and the grisly tissue become whole once more. Within moments, her shoulder was as unmarred as ever, not even a twinge of pain when she tested the joint by rotating it forward. She lifted her gaze to meet his, her emerald eyes practically glowing with her physical change, the bruise that had covered her cheek no longer staining her cheek. Jerry couldn't remember the last time he'd seen something so beautiful. And then she smiled at him. He didn't think it was possible, but that alone made her even more gorgeous to him. His lips pressed against hers once more, part of him wholly content with his choice in a mate and the feel of her soft mouth molded to his, another part eager to show her how to hunt. _

_They knew nothing about each other, weren't even sure if they'd be able to live together in relative happiness for long. To Dinah, that didn't matter anymore. Although she was now irrevocably inhuman and even more isolated from the world than before, it didn't matter so long as she had someone at her side to hold her hand and smile at her. The fact that she'd been instantly attracted to him in the bar and that the feeling seemed to be mutual didn't hurt either. Even if this newfound relationship ended soon, it promised to be one hell of a ride if his kisses were anything to go by._

_For Jerry, he didn't care about who she had been or who she'd thought she was. All he cared about was that he wasn't so utterly alone anymore. Even surrounded by people he knew he was as distant from them as if he'd been a hundred miles away on some deserted mountainside. But now he had a mate, someone for him to look after and to look after him, someone to ease the loneliness of immortality with him. He'd never wanted to walk the world alone, but after he'd been turned he'd had no choice in the matter. His maker had been killed and his "rescuers" had turned on him, marking him a demon from Hell. He'd been forced to learn everything on his own and in three hundred years no one had fully caught his interest…until Dinah stumbled into that bar. He'd seen her hidden strength and her desire for something more out of life; it caught his attention. He'd always been impulsive and while wanting Dinah at his side was no different, he knew he wouldn't regret it…and if he ever did, he could always get rid of her. But for now, he'd enjoy it._

_They parted almost regretfully, Dinah still trying to adjust to her new breathing pattern. "Let's go somewhere," Jerry whispered against her lips._

_She laughed girlishly as she ran her fingers along his jaw. "Where?"_

_He stood from the bed and drew her up with him in a motion so fluid she nearly lost her balance. "Anywhere you want, babe." He led her to the door, torn and bloodied clothes and all, ready to put her past behind her where it belonged._

"_Ireland," she said suddenly, equally unconcerned with the state of her clothing. _

"_Why Ireland?" He was genuinely curious that that would be her first choice._

_She shrugged, an elegant movement that had him entranced. "I like the name, I guess." Her smile faded as she observed his face. "Why, is it not a good place?"_

_He couldn't help it; he laughed again. He'd laughed more tonight (and in legitimate humor rather than near-psychotic bloodlust) than in the past decade. Although she wasn't completely innocent to the ways of the world and its horrors, her childlike naïveté intrigued him. "Not at all…not for us." He punctuated his declaration with a gentle kiss to her fingertips. That put a smile back on her lips and she bounded for the door. _

_She stopped suddenly, one foot over the threshold. "I almost forgot," she said, more to herself than to him. She ran back to the bedroom and returned shortly, the framed photograph in her hands. She saw his questioning look and explained. "Paul and Rosa. My foster parents. They were good to me; I can't leave them behind." _

_Jerry nodded solemnly. There was no harm in remembering the good things in life, he supposed. "To Ireland, then?"_

_Dinah nodded, smiling once again. "To Ireland!"_

Dinah awoke as the apartment door in her dream slammed shut (it was really the truck outside loading all the debris from their "renovations" into the dumpster). She hadn't thought about that night in a very long time. Unbidden tears sprang to life in her eyes as she recalled Paul and Rosa. Careful not to wake Jerry (it wasn't often she could catch him sleeping as he always seemed to be up before her), she shifted his arm around her waist and opened the drawer of her nightstand. Reaching in blindly, she pulled out the photo of her slain foster parents. Although she loved Jerry with a passion that hadn't diminished in nearly a century, she'd never felt more at peace than when she looked at their faded picture. Their smiles made her remember the laughter that had filled their home, the love they'd shown for each other without shame, and the love they'd shown for her. She had been little less than nothing to them; just some grouchy customer's little brat. But they had taken her in without a word; no calls to the police or appointment with an orphanage, no rants about how she'd ruined their lives or how worthless she was as a daughter. True, they'd made her earn her keep under their roof, but there had always been love.

"What are you doing?" Jerry asked behind her, his voice low and husky from sleep.

Dinah didn't jump; she'd long grown accustomed to his outbursts in dead silence. "Remembering." She felt her lover pull her tighter against his chest before lifting his head from its pillow and resting his chin on her shoulder. She felt rather than saw his eyes open and land on the picture she still studied. "Do you think," she began uneasily, "if I had met you earlier…do you think I could have saved them?"

Jerry nuzzled her hair before replying. "You were just a kid then, Di. You couldn't have done anything. And if I'd been there…well, it probably wouldn't have been the mob that killed your foster parents." She didn't take offense; the statement was true, after all. He hated when she thought about the past; it always made her upset and that in turn upset him. "Don't think about it, babe." He carefully removed the frame from her hands; she let him. He placed it on the nightstand, face down, and enveloped her more securely in his arms, throwing his leg over hers for good measure. "Go back to sleep. We've got a lot of work ahead of us tonight." She groaned at the thought of the work he meant; she hated that kind of manual labor. He ignored her, however. He placed a soft yet sensual kiss to her neck and quickly fell back asleep.

Dinah lingered for a moment longer on Paul and Rosa before finally tearing her eyes from the picture. She forced herself to focus on Jerry's solid mass behind her, his arms and leg encircling her protectively. She covered one of his hands on her stomach with her own and allowed a small smile to come to her face. Yes, she'd had a good life with the deli owners, but that was a lifetime ago. Now she had Jerry, and while they argued occasionally and he didn't seem to fully understand her (it was a male/female thing) and seemed to like irritating her (such as how he always left his beer bottles and cans laying around the house or put his boots on the furniture), she loved him fiercely. And she knew he returned the feeling; he'd once torn apart an entire military regiment when they'd been forcibly separated in Eastern Europe before the Second World War just to reclaim her. The few survivors had reported back to their commander that it had been the work of a beast, some spawn of Satan sent to slaughter them all.

The small smile didn't fade as she drifted into a dreamless sleep. With Jerry wrapped around her, how could she be troubled by anything? She just really didn't want to have to work when she awoke.

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><p><strong>This is where the title actually fits the story (maybe, sorta, kinda): Dinah and Jerry may be inhuman monsters, but there's a twisted kind of beauty that they both see in such a life. She took away his loneliness (say what you want, but I have a hard time believing that an immortal being, especially one that's described as "tribal in nature", would be totally cool with going through eternity all by his lonesome), and he gave her purpose and took her away from a rather horrid life. So….yeah. That's it. On to writing the next chapter!<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Finally, a new chapter! Just so you guys know, I absolutely love getting reviews (even if it's just a couple of words) and I reply to every single one I get (if it's signed and gives me a reply link xD). I really appreciate everyone who's taken the time to leave me feedback, especially considering how unsure I was of how this story would be received. Please let me know how I'm doing with these characters and how Dinah is fitting in, so to speak. In this chapter, Evil Ed makes his appearance! Huzzah!**

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><p>She felt something sliding up her back, something cool and wet. Whatever it was it felt good, even if it had woken her from a blissfully dreamless slumber. Dinah arched her back against the sensation, her legs straightening out on the bed. The wet, pliant…thing stopped when it reached the back of her neck and removed itself from her skin. She sighed at the loss of the contact, but drew in a sharp breath when it returned to the base of her spine. Her brain snapped awake, though her eyes remained closed, and worked out that the thing was a tongue and that it belonged to Jerry. <em>Why in hell is he licking my back?<em> she thought half-heartedly. In truth, she loved it. She shivered at the intimacy of the act, especially knowing just how talented that tongue could be when it chose. She bit back the squeak that threatened to escape her mouth when his hand descended on her exposed hip and his lips touched her skin.

Jerry rolled her onto her back, her eyes still closed, and jumped onto the bed to hover over her. He was careful to not let any part of him touch her…yet. She wanted to play this game? He could play just as easily. He watched her for several moments until she cracked open one eye. "Five more minutes," she muttered, closing the eye again and trying to ignore how he trapped her beneath his body without even touching her.

"Uh uh," he retorted. "I'm not doing this all by myself again, lazy ass." He grinned at the petulant glare she shot him. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can have some real fun."

"You know it takes me a few minutes to wake up," she countered stubbornly, stretching her arms over her head in an unconsciously sexual display.

Jerry scowled down at her, deciding to play dirty. He lowered himself onto her completely, pushing one of her legs aside so he could nestle between them comfortably. One hand busied itself in her hair while the other skimmed down her side to her knee. His lips stopped just short of making contact with hers, his breath wafting over her skin and making her shiver once more. The hand at her knee abruptly lifted her leg to embrace his hip, allowing him to sink further against her softness.

Dinah turned her head and gripped the headboard above her in a vain effort to control her body's reaction to his closeness. His shirt and jeans scraped against her skin roughly, but in a way that she'd come to love most dearly. The contrast of his clothed body pressing into her nude one, his corded muscle to her feminine curves, had her biting her lip to keep from moaning and giving him the satisfaction. His lips went to her ear to trace the outer shell hotly, his breath tickling the sensitive flesh and making her shudder visibly. The nip he gave her throat tore the gasp from her lungs and had her clutching at his back. His hips pushed against hers forcefully, the fit of his jeans becoming constricted at the sounds she made and the grip of her thighs around him. "You awake now, babe?" he growled, his fingers balling into a fist in her dark mass of hair while the other hand went to grasp her hip.

"Almost," she moaned, her tongue darting out and licking his lips. Her hips surged up to meet his lean body. When she started to laugh at his groan of surprise, he viciously slanted his mouth over hers, his tongue probing, searching, caressing. He bit at her lower lip and greedily sucked the blood from it, leaving her trembling in earnest and attempting to control her cries of wanton pleasure; she failed miserably.

Jerry forced himself to slow his assault and pulled back with a tug at her lip. He looked down at her with an almost obscene look of smugness at the state he'd put her in: cheeks slightly flushed, her breath coming in hard puffs, lips parted and darkened by his vigorous attack, eyes unfocused and clouded with lust. She tried to pull him back down to her waiting lips, but he held his ground, earning a rather becoming mewl of disappointment from his lover. One of her hands left his back to trail lower, sliding under his shirt to dance across his bare skin, to convince him to return to her and forget the world for just a bit longer. "You awake now, Di?" he asked hotly, punctuating the query with a smooth rock of his hips and a soft bite at her earlobe. Her responding whimper was all the confirmation he needed. "Good…then you can get off your ass and come help me finish the cells." He bounded from the bed and walked out into the hallway without missing a beat.

Dinah lay on the mattress for a moment, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She sat up abruptly as the truth hit her hard in the gut. "That was NOT nice, Jerry!" she yelled after him.

"Never said I was, babe," he called back.

"You're a total dick!"

"Same to you, bitch!"

She couldn't stay mad, not for long anyway. Fine. She'd help out with the cells (how much could be left to do anyway?), but she'd definitely have her way afterwards. He should have known better than to start something with no intention of finishing. "Bastard," she mumbled to herself. She threw the sheets back and started to dress, picking clothes she didn't mind getting dirty; she may not have had a reflection, but that didn't mean she wanted all of her clothes to get ruined every time they moved to a new city. As she threw on her clothes, she noticed the body of their meal from the previous night, or lack thereof; Jerry must have taken her down to the basement while she slept. _Good. Nothing worse than a rotting corpse._

Choosing a plain tank top and jogging pants she never wore outside anyway, she quickly ran her hands through her hair and pulled it up in a messy bun to keep it out of her face. She might complain about physical labor, but in truth she just hated screwing something up that was so pivotal to their lifestyle. Jerry was the builder, the handyman; it was he who made sure that they could dig out basements and foundations without having the house collapse on them. She could barely put a picture frame together without it falling apart in her hands. Thankfully, he seemed to learn this fairly quickly and eventually let her have the more decorative jobs such as screwing in doorknobs and holding things steady while he bolted them.

Dinah joined Jerry in the holding area where their prey would be housed, perfect for snacking over the course of a few weeks. Everything had pretty much already been completed; the only thing left was to install the doors and knobs. They ran out of washers just as the second to last door locked in place; she volunteered to bring more up from the utility area beside the kitchen. Just as she turned to go back upstairs, a figure flashed past the front window. She looked out to see Charley Brewster racing down the sidewalk…towards the last house she and Jerry had raided. What was the kid's name? Andy? Alfie? Something with an 'A'. _That doesn't matter, Dinah!_ No it didn't. What mattered was that Charley was possibly about to find out what became of his classmate.

She raced up the stairs to alert Jerry to this new development. "Jerry, Charley's going to what's-his-name's house." He growled lowly in response, the sound coming from deep within his chest. "I told you that Ed kid's been talking to him. I'm tired of having him for a shadow."

Jerry let out a harsh breath through his nose and stood. "I'll take care of it. You"-he put the drill he'd been using the secure the final hinge on a door in her hand-"finish this last door while I'm out." He departed with a kiss to her temple, a habit he'd developed over the years and one she had no desire to stop.

Dinah looked down at the drill as if it were some alien technology. "Okay, Di. It's not that hard. Just take your time." A single deep breath and the whir of the tool soon drew all of her concentration.

Less than an hour had passed before she heard the side door open and shut, the same time the final screw was embedded into the doorknob to complete the door. Dinah felt her chest swell with her accomplishment, pleased that the slab of wood didn't creak or crash to the floor when she gave it a test swing. She put the drill down on the table in the hallway as she made her way downstairs. Her lips curved up in a smile as Jerry came into view…and quickly turned back down when she saw the extra person in their kitchen.

"Dinah, behave," Jerry said as he noticed her apprehension, no bite to his words.

Dinah didn't look at her mate as he spoke, focusing instead on Ed, who sported brand new fangs and whiter-than-chalk skin, and what the hell he was doing in their home. She saw him do the same to her, only with a lot more attitude. "Yeah, I've seen you around," he said cockily. "So what are you, like, his pet or something?" She didn't respond, refusing to take the bait. He turned to Jerry then. "Gotta hand it to ya, man: you got good taste in women."

"Shut up, Ed," Dinah snapped. She turned to Jerry. "The fuck did you turn him for? I am not gonna play momma to this douchebag."

"The hell's your problem, bitch?" Ed shot back.

"Hey!" Jerry started, but Dinah sharply raised a hand to silence him.

Although Ed stood several inches taller than her, she stared him down with all the ferocity of a she-wolf when she stepped up to him. Her voice was low and promised all manner of torture and death should he interrupt her. "Let's get one thing straight right now: if Jerry wants you here, fine. But you will know your place. I am the alpha, and you are less than an omega. If you ever speak to me like that again, I'll rip your spine out through your throat and use it for a jump rope and name you my bitch. You understand me?"

Jerry leaned back against the counter, arms crossed over his chest, as he watched the scene with no shortage of amusement. Dinah, in her "lazy clothes" as she called them, looking every inch a queen as she continued to stare down Ed until he lowered his eyes and hunched his shoulders in submission. He clearly wasn't happy about being told off, but Jerry wouldn't help him; if Ed turned out to be useless to them at least the tension between the two would make for some entertainment if he got bored.

Dinah raised her head even higher at Ed's concession, her chest puffed out in conquest. "Good," she said with finality. "Now get down in the basement and rest up. You're just a waste of space to me, but Jerry must have some kind of plan for you or else he would've just torn your throat out. Move it!"

Ed met her gaze for a moment before turning to glance at Jerry. The alpha male just shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "Whatever," Ed muttered as he made his way down the basement steps.

Dinah kept her eyes locked on the doorway as if waiting for Ed to make a defiant (and stupid) return to the kitchen. Jerry's chuckle left his mouth before he could stop it, soon turning into a full-blown laugh. He reached forward and dipped two fingers into the waistband of her pants to pull her against him. "You know you're fuckin' hot when you're pissed? But did you really need to be so rough on the kid?" he asked as his hands closed around her hips and drew her more fully between his legs.

He made to nuzzle her exposed neck, but she abruptly pulled her head out of his reach. "He cops an attitude with me like that again I'll throw him into the sunlight myself." She ignored the way Jerry's arms encircled her further in an effort to bring her body back against his; she was pissed off and she wanted him to know it. "Seriously, Jerry. Why did you turn him? Of all people on God's Earth, why that dickhead?"

He shrugged. "It was easy." She growled at his evasiveness and turned her head away again. "C'mon, Di," he coaxed. "Tell you what: you pick the next one and I won't say a word." Another growl from her, softer than the first. "Or I keep picking everyone I turn and you have no say in it. Take your pick, doll." The look she gave him then would have terrified any other person, but knowing that she would never intentionally harm him and that he could easily overpower her just made him laugh. She quickly turned away once more with a snarl, more aggravated that she had no counterargument than anything else.

Feeling giddy at the small victory, Jerry held her more securely against him as he started to kiss her neck, slowly at first, then with growing aggression, swiping his tongue over her skin. She started to turn to jelly in his arms, trembling in anticipation of what else he might do with that tongue; it had already proven to be her undoing earlier and he didn't show any sign of stopping until she completely succumbed to him. But she wasn't through having her tantrum. "Doris."

That made him stop, looking up at her with confusion. "No, Jerry. You, Dinah."

She met his eyes with no hint of humor. "I want Doris."

"The stripper across the street?"

"Yeah. I love ya, Jerry, but I need a girl to talk to every now and then. She's bound to have a few good stories." Her previous irritation began to fade as she spoke, truly wanting to have a female companion with whom she could bond. She did love Jerry, but she'd never really had a friend to chat with about the most absurd things. At this point, she wasn't too picky.

Jerry didn't move as he thought it over, his dark eyes searching hers. After a moment of unnecessary contemplation (she'd get her way regardless), he nodded sharply. "Fine, you can have Doris." He raised a finger to the tip of her nose in mock warning. "But no talking about me behind my back."

Dinah giggled and scrunched her nose against his touch. "No promises." Letting the rest of her annoyance melt out of her body, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned further into him. She smirked to herself when his eyes drifted down to where their bodies melded together and how her chest rose and fell with each breath. "But, if you're good, I'll try to keep the gossip to a minimum." A soft kiss at each corner of his mouth had him growling low in his chest and his fingertips digging into her flesh. "And now I'm going out to eat."

Before he could pull her back she'd lightly stepped out of his grasp and practically flew up the stairs, giggling like a child. When he came to his sense she was already in their bedroom rummaging for a change of clothes. "What the hell for, Di?"

She popped her head around the corner to answer: "Because someone didn't leave me anything from the chick last night and I'm starving. That's why, you ass!"

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><p><strong>Lame ending is lame, but I didn't want to drag this part out any more than necessary. Next up we get back to the movie timeline and the grand finale later on! Is it sad I'm most excited about posting that part? xD<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**M FOR A REASON HERE, PEOPLE! **

**So sorry for the delay, but I kinda got distracted by a buttload of other things (three other fics, old-school TV shows, finishing making a dress, etc). Amee, I couldn't reply to your review (which was the kick in the butt I needed to even start typing this chapter), but thank you so much! I've got a plan for the ending, don't you worry! Reviews are actually what keep me going on this fic (what's the point of continuing something no one likes enough to review, right?), so keep 'em coming! Hope you guys like it!**

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><p>Dinah made sure to keep herself out of sight while Jerry made Doris welcome in the den; the "entertainer" would more than likely be more put off by the deception than anything else. When they'd first met, Dinah didn't bother to mention her relationship with Jerry. He must have told her they were siblings or cousins or something equally as stupid in order to get the other woman to agree to have drinks with him alone. Or perhaps not; society didn't seem to value the institution of…whatever the hell she and Jerry had, but still. Aside from Jane and Amy, Doris was the only female she'd met in this town who didn't grate on her nerves. It didn't hurt that she was also the only one of the three who had no one to miss her. Rather sad, if she thought about it. But that was none of her concern. All she cared about was getting herself a girlfriend to go out on the town with when Jerry decided to be a putz, oggle over shiny jewelry in store windows, and watch retarded reality shows and laugh at the absurdity of them.<p>

Dinah listened to every word exchanged between the two, waiting for her cue to enter and reveal the setup. She cringed at the blatant way the dancer flirted with Jerry, not out of jealousy but the sheer awfulness of the woman's acting; if she thought she was being coy she was sorely mistaken. At least she didn't make her living as an actress: she'd starve within a month. Doris's speech steadily became worse as she downed bottle after bottle of beer (she must have been a real lightweight), her inhibitions being shed like her clothes on the stage. Dinah heard her try to feel up Jerry's chest, rolling her eyes at his overly dramatic (and overly loud) proclamations of how she had "the magic touch" and other nonsense. _Just hurry up and bite her, dickhead._ He must have heard her stray thought: Doris screamed suddenly, sounding like a cat being run over by a semi, followed by a string of frightened expletives. _Showtime!_

Dinah practically flew down the stairs to Doris's side, the very epitome of care and concern. Both she and Jerry were now standing, his smirking lips stained crimson, Doris clutching at her neck where he'd bitten into her flesh. Dinah's embrace was loose, her touch as light as a feather so as not to further frighten the other woman. She was only barely coherent through the pain, shock, and alcohol coursing through her in a biological cocktail that would put her right into Dinah's arms. "Doris, sweetheart," she pleaded gently. "You've got to calm down. You'll wake the whole neighborhood at this rate."

"I don't fuckin' care!" Doris screamed hysterically. "He fuckin' bit me! He drew blood! Who the fuck does that?"

"Uh, me," Jerry answered smugly.

Dinah shot him a glare that clearly told him to shut up; he just shrugged. "Sweetie, seriously, you're making a big fuss over nothing."

"Nothing? Nothing? What kind of sick game are you playing here?" She wrenched herself away from Dinah, who raised both hands in a display of peace. "What the fuck kind of drugs are you on? You two are outta your fuckin' minds! Your asses are going to jail big time!"

Dinah sighed heavily as Doris started for the door. She darted to the door in the blink of an eye, startling the dancer and sending her stumbling backwards, right into Jerry. "Doris, it wasn't supposed to be this difficult (thank you, Jerry). Once you get used to it, this life is actually kinda fun."

Doris's outrage quickly dissipated in favor of utter terror. "Please," she pleaded pitifully. "Please let me go. I won't tell anyone, I swear. I just wanna go home!"

Jerry's hands closed around her shaking shoulders as he began sniffing at the wound he'd made on her neck. The restraint it took for him to not rip her throat open right there was evident on his face and the way his entire body tensed. Dinah didn't have much time if she wanted to have a girlfriend rather than another corpse to get rid of. "Jerry, wait. Doris, listen. It only hurts for a bit. Well, it hurts a lot, but it doesn't last long. And we'll take good care of you, darlin'."

Doris heard none of it, her fear taking over completely. "Please just let me go home," she cried. "Please don't kill me."

"Doesn't work like that," Jerry growled into her ear. His teeth sank back into her neck as Dinah cradled her head and kept her arms down at her sides. She did feel a pang of sympathy for the stripper, recalling how painful her own transformation had been so many years prior, but the excitement of finally having a girlfriend pushed the feeling aside with ease. She started making a mental list of everything they would do together, starting with clothes shopping! Without a reflection, it was difficult (to say the least) to decide what looked good on her and what made her look ghastly; Jerry's answer was always that she looked better either naked or in her backless red shirt, so having a female opinion would be most helpful.

The flash of red and blue lights through the window brought her out of her thoughts with a snap. She grasped Jerry's hand and nodded towards the window when he lifted his head from Doris's neck. He let out a low growl at the interruption, but kept his voice calm. "Take her upstairs." Dinah didn't argue, not with the cops just outside the door. She gestured for her mate to clean the blood from his mouth before practically carrying the other woman up to the holding cells hidden behind the spare room's closet. She didn't bother with being gentle as the gravity of the situation fell on her shoulders; she quickly shoved Doris into a cell and locked the door. Now the woman could yell and scream all she wanted, if she still had the energy, and not a sound would escape the walls.

She heard the front door open and two unfamiliar voices drift up the stairs. "Sir, we got a report of a woman screaming. Mind tellin' us what's going on?" That one comment gave Dinah an idea. _Never let it be said that I don't have a sense of humor,_ she thought as she hurriedly stripped off her clothes and purposefully messed up her hair.

Grabbing the sheet from their bed and holding it up to her chest, making sure her legs could be easily seen, she heard Jerry laugh. "Well, yeah, she is a screamer." His solitary chuckle was followed by a brief, stunned silence, then a chorus that could only be described as a trio of masculine giggles.

_I swear to God, men are such little girls._ She rolled her eyes yet again and made sure to garner the men's complete and undivided attention as she sauntered down the stairs. "Darlin', are you ever coming back up?" she purred, her voice dripping with sex. She stopped at base of the stairs when she saw their visitors. "Oh, hello officers." She gave them a slight wiggle of her fingers as a greeting, the edge of the sheet dangerously close to exposing her breast. She grinned in sultry feminine satisfaction at the way the policemen openly gawked at her; Jerry licked his lips.

The taller officer was the first to recover. "Ma'am, we received a report of someone in this house screaming."

Dinah demurely ducked her head and delicately touched her lips as she chuckled softly. "My apologies, officers. Sometimes I just can't control myself. I'll be quieter." _Eh, why not?_ She raised her right hand, three fingers upright, and added, "Girl Scout's honor." _Give the boys something to think about later._

The officers cleared their throats uncomfortably; Dinah knew she didn't have to use her "special hypnosis" to make men forget their missions. After all, wars had been fought and kingdoms lost over the desire for the female form for centuries. What was the point in having such a body if one were not going to use it to its fullest advantage? Jerry broke the silence first while continuing to devour her with his heated gaze. "I'll be done here in a few minutes, babe. Go on back upstairs."

Dinah didn't like being dismissed so easily, no matter the circumstance. She put an extra sway in her hips as she closed the distance between them. Placing one hand on his jaw and turning his head towards her, she teasingly, torturously brushed his lips with her own. She relished the shudder that rippled through him and the quickened tempo of his breath. "Hurry it up, then," she whispered, still loud enough for the cops to hear. As if just remembering they were there, she turned to them and flashed a brilliant smile. "Don't keep him too long, boys." She looked back to Jerry, playing up her role as a sex kitten flawlessly. "He's got some unfinished business to handle." A soft, burning kiss to the underside of his chin and she was on her way back up the stairs, her nude backside on full display as an extra kick in the gut to the men. The soft gasps behind her were enough proof that she'd done her job well.

She stifled her laughter as she heard the cops tell Jerry he was a lucky man. _Well, that was easy enough._ She busied herself with replacing the sheet on the bed, utterly unconcerned with her state of undress. She didn't bother with making it too neat as it would just get messed up anyway, sooner rather than later if Jerry's reaction to her earlier was any indication.

She had just started to hum a song that had gotten stuck in her head a few days ago when she found herself pinned between a cold wall and an only slightly warmer mass of flesh and muscle. After her initial shock, she happily welcomed the hand in her hair, even when it gripped the strands to the point of pain. "You should know better than to do that, babe," came the harsh whisper in her ear. She shivered at the unspoken promises in that voice, in the fist in her hair, in the ragged breath that fanned over her face and down her neck.

Dinah met Jerry's black eyes and nearly melted to the floor at the blatant lust she saw radiating from his gaze. She bit her lower lip to silence the groan that would have escaped her mouth, inadvertently drawing his attention there. He lifted her against the wall so that her head was level with his, his denim-clad knee going between her thighs to keep her in place. Her eyes fluttered closed at the spark that shot through her body at that simple movement. Before he could unleash an assault on her neck and retain his dominance, she lunged for his throat and caressed the sensitive skin with her lips. He gasped in surprise, making her smirk against his flesh. She trailed her kisses and nips up to his ear, where she took the lobe between her teeth and tugged it sharply. He growled and surged forward to make sure not one inch of their bodies remained separated. She laughed again, the throaty sound driving her mate crazy with the amount of restraint it took for him not to take her right there against the wall. She paid no mind to the dangerous proximity of his fangs to her neck; in fact, she reveled in the anticipation of his bite. "And you should know better than back me into a corner and expect me to roll over," she chortled hotly.

Before she could even comprehend being moved, she felt the unforgiving wall replaced with the softness of the sheet she had just replaced to their bed. Jerry moved away from her just long enough to pull his shirt over his head and throw it into a corner. Dinah's fingers went to the exposed flesh, pale and beautiful as moonlight, caressing, fondling, re-memorizing the sharp angles and planes she already knew by heart. He allowed the gesture for a moment before taking her hands in his and trapping them beside her on the bed, his fingers lacing intimately with hers. "'Roll over'," he echoed contemplatively. "Sounds like a plan to me, doll." Their smiles to each other were a blend of primal lust and genuine humor, a rare moment of tenderness in the midst of their lives of blood and savage hunger.

A gentle kiss to her lips and Jerry raised himself back onto his knees above her. He made quick work of his belt, eagerly returning to his lover with a sound kiss and wrapping the strip of leather around her wrists. He raised her bound hands over her head, keeping his grip on the belt to tighten and loosen as he saw fit. She could easily break free of the restraint should she choose, but she quite liked this side of him. Besides, it gave her the opportunity to surprise him, something she could do only rarely nowadays. She heard his heavy boots hit the floor just before the fingers of his free hand went to the fastenings on his jeans, undoing them with practiced ease. Before he could move to rid himself of them, Dinah lifted her legs around his waist and slipped her toes under the denim, pushing them away fluidly. Jerry released her lips and looked down at her in astonishment. She simply smirked back up at him and, acting quickly, used her feet to pull his hips against her until he filled her completely.

They both groaned at the sensation, never tiring of the ancient dance they'd turned into an art form over the decades. Dinah felt the heat first, that slow burn that began in the lowest pit of her gut and spread out to her fingers and toes like a flower bursting into bloom. Jerry's nips at her throat and the friction of his skin on her sensitive breasts only fueled her cries and incensed her lover to his breaking point. The fact that she could not touch him frustrated her to no end, but simultaneously made that fire burn even hotter. A low growl suddenly tickled her ear. "Didn't you promise the cops you wouldn't be so loud?" he rumbled hoarsely, prolonging his release until she arched beneath him as she'd done so many times before.

Dinah laughed through her gasps for breath. "I was never in the Scouts. You know that." Her pleasured purr quickly turned into a brief scream when he gave a particularly deep thrust at the same time he yanked the belt, the leather cutting into her wrists. Once the initial sensory overload faded, she locked her now-black gaze with his, taking note of how he grinned down at her like a Chesire cat. "Dick move, love," she muttered half-seriously. She'd had enough. One sharp pull against the belt and her hands were free. Another abrupt move had them both on their knees, her thighs at his sides, and her arms wrapped around his neck. "I do believe this is check, Jerry."

Her mirth was short-lived when his grip on her hips became like a vise, raising and lowering her onto him with a triumphant smirk. He halted his movements just before her orgasm ripped through her; after so many years he knew all the signs to look for, the better to leave her wanting if he was in a playful mood. He laughed breathlessly at the confusion in her face when she looked down at him. "You suck at chess, Di." He gave her no chance to argue: his lips descended to her throat once again, nipping, teasing, bruising. One hand slid purposefully up her back and tangled itself in her long hair, tugging her head back to bare her neck even more to his eager mouth. There was a time when she didn't understand his obsession with her hair. After all there was nothing special about it: black with a slight wave hanging down to her mid-back. Only until she mirrored his actions one night and ran her fingers through his roguish locks did she understand how unbearably erotic such an action was to such hypersensitive beings as they. He'd practically purred at her touch then, giving her the impetus to do more than just pet his head like a dog. When he'd snarled in orgasmic pleasure the first time she'd pulled his head back and exposed the long column of his throat to her teeth and fangs, she'd known she now had an ace up her sleeve. However, she still didn't quite get his fascination with her ass.

Dinah's mind snapped back to the present when she felt the tight coil in her belly ready to release. Her quickened breath was the only the first warning she gave; the deep bite into Jerry's neck was the second. He roared at the pleasure/pain of her fangs in his flesh combined with the shuddering spasms rippling through her and passing into him. He clutched her to him as his own orgasm tore through him, his talons piercing the soft skin of her back and his fangs bared to the ceiling as it passed. The silence that followed hung like a dead weight, punctuated even further by their ragged breaths. Dinah released his neck from her hold, watching through hooded eyes as the muscle and skin mended itself within seconds. They remained upright for several moments as the sweat evaporated from their skin and their breathing returned to normal. She would have been more than happy to call this night done and go to sleep, but it seemed he had other ideas.

Jerry took her left hand in his right and brought it to his lips, softly kissing the angry red mark on her wrist left behind by his belt. The sight of the blemish on her otherwise unnaturally flawless skin prompted a flashback of a time when she'd been given similar wounds, but not by him. He couldn't remember too much about that time given the state of blinding rage he'd been in at having had her stolen from him for a _second_ time (again by a human!), but he recalled all too clearly the way she had been strung up like a freshly poached pig. She'd been locked in a cage, her arms held over her head by chains, and her clothes stained with her own blood as it poured from her side where a crossbow bolt, probably blessed by some saint or other, had pierced her torso; the bolt had remained lodged in her side to prevent the gaping hole from healing. And yet, even through her torture she still had the strength to smile at him when he'd finally found her. Her captor had escaped (he'd thrown holy water in their faces and used their distraction to slip out the door), but his day would come…and it would be a brutal end for the fucker who dared touch what belonged to him.

A soft thump at his temple brought him out of his murderous thoughts. Dinah looked at him with more than a hint of concern in her lovely face. "Stop it."

"What?" His hand slid up and down her arm as the last vestiges of the memory waned.

"Thinking whatever it is you're thinking. You always end up in a bad mood when you make that face." Her right hand went to his jaw, her thumb unconsciously stroking his cheek in an attempt to soothe his troubled mind. His smile was without warmth as he looked down at her wrists again. Even though these particular marks had been made out of lust, they still brought back those images, as fresh in his mind's eye as the day he first witnessed them. His touch was light on her skin as he traced the now-fading marks. Dinah shifted in his lap and took her left hand from his grasp, bringing it up to the other side of his head and forcing him to meet her eyes. "Seriously, what is it?"

His gaze softened as he looked into those deep, expressive, affectionate eyes, once again their normal green hue. He removed her hands from his face and kissed each one in turn. "Just remembering something. It's nothing."

Dinah wasn't convinced but she didn't argue. She'd learned long ago to pick her battles with this man and she wasn't about to start a war over something so small. She nodded in surrender. "Okay." A gentle kiss to his mouth. "Okay," she repeated quieter.

"Sun's coming up," he said matter-of-factly.

Her internal clock told her the same. "So it is." _Well, now this is just awkward._ "You know the one thing I miss? Flapjacks."

Jerry froze. When he raised his eyes to hers his brow was furrowed in total confusion. "Do what now?"

Dinah smiled at the turn of the mood. "When I was a kid, Rosa would make us a stack of flapjacks every morning. Most of the time they were plain, but if we'd had a good week she'd throw in some blueberries or strawberries." She stopped herself before her thoughts turned back down that road, instead beaming down at her mate like a child. "I know! Let's have pancakes!"

Jerry just titled his head to one side as if trying to see straight through her. Then he laughed. The sound made Dinah's heart swell with happiness; it had been too long since she'd last heard him laugh like that. "You're not making any sense, doll."

She rolled her eyes dramatically for the third time that night. "I. Want. Pan. Cakes. What part of that are you having a tough time understanding?"

"You can have them anytime. Right now, I'm going to sleep, and you" - without so much as a warning he pitched himself forward so that she lay trapped beneath him again – "are gonna stay right here."

"And if I refuse?"

"You never do, babe." His arms tightened around her, drawing her against him so firmly that the chances of her wriggling away were slim to none. Not that she was complaining. A final kiss to her forehead, one more loving smile that demanded no answers from her mate. While her last thoughts before sleep should have been about how to proceed with Doris since her transformation had been interrupted, all Dinah could think about was making strawberry pancakes at dusk.

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><p><strong>What story about vampires doesn't involve pancakes? :P<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Finally got this chapter done! Almost to the really good stuff, folks!**

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><p>"Jerry, I swear to God if you slap my ass again I'll rip your spine out through your throat."<p>

"Kinda hard to ignore it when you're puttin' it on display, sweetheart."

Facing backwards in the truck cab, Dinah didn't look away from the Wawa doors despite her growing irritation. "A'ight, you know what? I don't go around feeling you up in public, so I'd appreci-" A resounding _smack_ echoed in the cab before she could finish her tirade and left her rump stinging. She quickly flipped around in her seat to avoid any more hits. She managed to land two slaps on her assailant's shoulder before he immobilized her hands. "What have I told you about doing that?"

"Ah, you know you like it, doll," he said with a laugh. He really did find her adorable when she complained about his fascination with her ass.

Dinah couldn't help but return his smile as she freed her hands from his. Instead of continuing to nag him, she went back to watching the convenience store doors through the rear view mirror for her opportunity to move. Jerry never seemed too concerned about the surveillance cameras that pervaded everyday life nowadays (she joked it was due to his old age), but she sure as hell did. The last thing they needed was to be careless and get their images, or lack thereof, splashed across the six o'clock news. She ignored his near-palpable impatience; he always complained she was too paranoid. "Shush, you," she said gently. "If you'd ever let me drive this thing, you could've stayed home."

"Fat chance, Di," he growled, his fingers gripping the wheel almost protectively. "Not after last time."

She rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what incident he meant: she'd intentionally crashed their last car into another driver. She'd been away from their then-home in the mountains of North Carolina too long and had been starving. While driving back from the nearest store (a thirty-five minute drive even at high speed), the back roads had been completely deserted. The first vehicle she'd seen had been a godsend. She'd rammed the smaller car off the road without a second thought. Being an older (and bigger) model than the two-door Volkswagen, her Chevy had sustained significantly less damage. The other driver had been knocked unconscious by the impact, a perfect meal. When she'd returned home, Jerry had flipped. A busted headlight, deep scratches, and heavily-dented bumper had sent him into a hissy fit she even now found unnecessary. She'd known of his fondness for cars, especially Chevies, but she hadn't expected he'd overreact so badly; it wasn't like they couldn't replace or repair the vehicle without a hassle. He still hadn't entirely forgiven her, however, and he certainly hadn't allowed her near the wheel of the Tahoe he'd acquired once they moved to Vegas.

"One time, _one time_ I do something a bit drastic out of hunger and you don't let it go. You don't see me nagging you whenever you get sloppy, which is becoming a habit with you, by the way." She didn't give him the chance to argue: two men were making their way to the doors. She jumped out of the truck, still readying herself for an argument later (did he really think that he could keep to the same neighborhood and no one would notice the string of missing people?), and jogged to catch the door as one of the men chivalrously held it open for her.

The store looked more like a ghost town than anything. Only Dinah, the two men, and the cashier occupied the place. To her dismay, the other customers made a beeline for the beer cooler and left with their purchase within a minute. Now she would have to wait until someone else opened the door for her to exit without catching the attention of the security cameras. While she waited, she pretended to text, browse the shelves (making mental notes of where the Bisquick [she still wanted pancakes, dammit], produce, chips, and Icee machine were located), and eventually ended up at the counter making small talk with the cashier; she was genuinely amused by his attempt to flirt with her. She played along, turning on the charm until another person finally walked in. Excusing herself to collect her items, she practically flew down the aisles and back up to the counter behind the other customer. The woman, apparently a chatterer, commented on a news story she'd seen a few nights ago. "Can you believe someone would try to _bite_ a complete stranger? And out in public! People are just plain sick, I tell you. Makes me wish for the good ol' days where you got mugged the old-fashioned way with a knife or a gun; at least you can see those coming."

Dinah froze at the word 'bite'. _She can't mean…no. No. Even he's not that thoughtless._ "Yeah, it's a messed up world," she added blankly.

"Tell me about it, honey," the woman said as she grabbed her bag and stepped aside to let Dinah be rung up. "Makes you afraid to go out at night anymore, doesn't it?" Her noncommittal shrug didn't go unnoticed. "You disagree?"

Dinah quickly caught herself, dragging her thoughts from the myriad of ways she would punish Jerry for being so careless to answer the other woman as sweetly as possible. "Oh, it's not that I'm brave or anything. But I've got my guy to look after me." _Someone gag me, please._

The cashier looked disappointed at the revelation while the customer looked excitedly curious. "Ohhh, lucky you! Is he with you?" She craned her head in search of said boyfriend.

"He's waiting in the truck." Dinah grabbed her bag (and extra large cherry Icee) and made for the door, her 'new friend' following. "I'd better get back before he starts thinking the buzzards have carried me off." Remembering the need for caution, she turned back to the cashier with a "thanks so much, sweetie" and a little mental nudge to forget her. "Would you mind?" she asked the woman, lifting her purchases to show her occupied hands.

"Oh, sure thing." They stepped out into the cool air together, the stranger continuing to prod. "It must be great having a nice, strong guy to protect you. Can't say I don't envy you. I'm Anna, by the way."

The pause clearly meant that Dinah was expected to return the introduction. _Like hell that's gonna happen._ "Rosa." She immediately bit her lip at the slip up. It was the first name that came to mind.

"Sooooo," Anna cooed. "Where's your boyfriend?"

_Annnnnd like hell she's getting anywhere near Jerry._ Thankfully, a lone motorist had stopped during their conversation in the store to gas up his truck. Dinah made straight for him. "That's him. Hey, you," she chortled saccharinely. The man looked up, clearly taken aback. "Oh, good. We needed gas."

"Da fu-?" Dinah's pointed glance shut him up. His startled state allowed her to easily pry into his mind and keep him from blowing her cover. And if her mental hold on him wasn't enough, the lustful kiss she gave him surely did. _Phase I of Jerry's punishment for being stupid._ She knew he was watching, glaring most likely, but it served him right. She pulled away from the stranger with a wet _pop_, making sure her gaze on him was appropriately starry-eyed. "You all done, baby?" The man nodded dumbly. She turned back to Anna as if just remembering her presence. "IT was nice meeting you, Anna, but we really gotta get going. It is getting pretty late." For good measure she sidled up to the man while looking around nervously, as if expecting someone to jump out at any moment.

The tactic worked: Anna seemed to finally realize how empty the parking lot was in addition to the hour. "Yeah, right. It is late. You guys be safe on the road." Dinah gave her a cold smile as she practically sprinted to her own car. The smile dropped as soon as the taillights disappeared onto the main street and into the night. Something about that woman got under her skin; she'd never been one for idle chatter, especially from strangers she didn't intend to eat. She started to step towards the Tahoe when she remembered Distraction Man. Her eyes flashed as she gently commanded him: "Forget my face."

As soon as she was sure all memory of her was shut out from his mind, she made her way to Jerry. He already had the truck running by the time she got the door. "Open up. My hands are full," she called, taking a sip from her Icee. Without looking at her, he smirked…and backed up. "Hey!" she snapped. "This isn't funny! Let me in." She yelled out again when he put the truck in drive and began pulling away. He only stopped when she moved directly in his path, knowing he wouldn't risk hitting her. She glared at him through the windshield just to make sure he knew she was pissed. His replying smile didn't reach his eyes, but he relented and opened her door. "You're an ass," she said flatly as she climbed inside.

"What the hell was that back there?" he asked suddenly.

"What was what?" She busied herself with mixing the slush in her giant cup with the straw, being the passive aggressive bitch she knew got on his nerves.

"You know what."

"Please, you saw that woman. She's even worse to talk to. She somehow thought we'd bonded just because we're both female in a big bad scary world where all men are rapists, pedophiles, or eunuchs. I had to get away from her without making a scene."

"And tongue-fucking some random guy isn't 'making a scene'?"

She couldn't help the laugh that flew out of her mouth at his description. "Oh, like that's what it was. And here I thought I was covering our asses and keeping suspicion off us. Unlike a certain _someone_ who apparently made it on the news for trying to bite some woman at a store a few nights ago."

Jerry's warning growl didn't faze her in the slightest. "Don't go there. If she hadn't tried to run I'd have had her."

"Yeah, and I'll be Peter Vincent's newest assistant for the spring world tour." She sighed against the ensuing silence, the air in the cab thick enough to cut with a knife. She knew she'd crossed a line by mention that name. "Look, I'm just trying to keep attention off of us. People go missing, and people start talking. We're still the new guys in town, so fingers are going to point at us first. A little misdirection keeps them off our backs and we can go about our lives in peace…relatively speaking, I mean."

"You don't need to do that. I can take care of it, Di," he growled lowly.

She purposefully softened her tone. If he'd gone back to calling her Di he was beginning to cool off. "I'm not arguing that, Jerry. But sometimes there are better alternatives than leaving a trail of bodies." Putting her Icee in the cupholder, she slid across the seat to him; after over a century of experience, she completely trusted his driving ability to not bother with a seatbelt. She laid one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his bicep. "Let's please not do this right now." Her smile this time was genuine. "Tonight's a happy night!"

Jerry chuckled at her glee. He took one hand in his and lightly kissed her wrist. She took that as an invitation to scoot closer; usually when he was still angry with her he wouldn't let her touch him. Thankfully those instances were rare and never lasted more than a few hours. She curled against his side like an overgrown cat, her head on his thigh, as she normally did when he was peeved at her for one thing or another. A less tense silence passed between them for a beat. "You're still a jerk, doll," he said suddenly. He lightly pinched her arm when she started to laugh. He cupped her chin and forced her to meet his eyes, albeit upside down. "I'm serious: if you do something like that again, I'll rip the asshole's head off."

"Eyes on the road, hon." The moment his head turned, she grabbed his wrist and wrenched his hand away from her chin. Her claws dug into the thin skin until rivulets of blood snaked down his arm. A slight hiss escaped his lips, more out of surprise than any actual pain. Steadying the wheel, he looked down to find her eyes piercing him as effectively as her sharp nails. "I'll remember that the next time you decide to feel up some bitch." Her smile was that of a Cheshire cat as she began licking the blood away with a self-satisfied air.

Jerry allowed the gesture without an argument. For the rest of the ride home, he entertained himself with different scenarios of her making good on her unspoken promise. By the time they pulled into the garage both were in better spirits. In just a few minutes Doris would be one of them. Not an underling, but a partner, a sister and friend for Dinah that she had craved for years.

Dinah bounded into the kitchen…and stopped in her tracks. _Something's wrong._ Her senses became more acute, her eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary, and her nose testing the air. Another fragrance permeated the air, one that had no business in their home. She gasped as she recognized the scent. "Jerry…"

"I smell him, too." He stepped past her into the house and inhaled deeply through his nose. His head snapped in the direction of the stairs. "Got 'im." With slow, methodical steps he started up the stairs, making sure his footfalls could be easily heard by their unwelcome visitor.

Dinah wasn't too thrilled about the intruder, but Jerry was taking care of it. She decided to wait for his return in the den (after putting away the Bisquick, strawberries, and Fritos and setting the apples on the counter for later). Flipping on the TV, she quickly found The Discovery Channel's newest special for _Shark Week_. If nothing else, she lived for this week! Sharks fascinated her, especially considering how alike they and vampires like her and Jerry were. She particularly enjoyed the specials showing people getting attacked by the deadly predators. _Well, you're in a shark's house. What did you expect?_ The narrator had just finished going over the mako shark's sense of smell compared to humans (something Dinah already knew about) when Jerry's heavy footfalls reached her ears. Turning around in the chair (the only one they had at the moment), she found that he descended the staircase alone. "Hey, where's -"

"Up," he interrupted. Her brows nearly met in her confusion, but she did as he asked without a second thought. He pulled her down into his lap as he sat down and put his feet up on the ottoman, one arm around her waist and the other drawing her legs to lay across his.

"Jerry, what about Char-" Her question went unspoken as a sharp pain in her side wrenched a gasp from her. Looking down, she saw that her mate had pierced her skin with his talons…and had no intention of removing them. _What in hell…?_ When she looked back to him, he seemed as unconcerned as ever about the intruder in their home as he licked fresh blood from his fingers. "Is that from Doris or –"

She bit back the cry of pain as his claws dug deeper into her flesh. "Hush." She didn't argue. She didn't know what he had planned or what he'd done with Charley, but he obviously didn't want her to give whatever it was away by asking questions. She remained silent, waiting for him to explain himself, but when he changed the channel she started to lunge for the remote. His grip on her kept her firmly in place, however. His breath danced over her ear as he leaned closer, whispering, "I want to see exactly what he does, so act normal."

Dinah glared at him in response, not completely understanding this new tactic. The claws embedded in her side kept her from turning when the sounds of movement down the stairs reached her ears, however. She tried to focus on the television, but the chattering women on the screen holding godawful bras up to each other did nothing for her. "Jerry, can you please turn it back? This is stupid as hell."

He didn't answer. Instead, he abruptly stood and carried her on one arm into the kitchen. His steps were slow and controlled, apparently trying to give Charley and Doris the illusion of being unnoticed. He grabbed a beer from the fridge, popping the cap off on the edge of the counter, while Dinah spontaneously reached out for an apple despite the pain the movement caused her. Jerry's walk back to the den was just as leisurely as before, but Dinah became more agitated. She opened her mouth to protest as he sat down, not wanting Doris to be taken from her. Before she could get out a single word, Jerry took the apple in her hand and shoved it into her mouth. His eyes and ever-strengthening grip on her side clearly told her he was not playing. She narrowed her eyes at him and bit at the apple before she choked on it. "At least turn it back to _Shark Week_," she hissed around the fruit.

"In a minute," he replied just as harshly. The front door creaked open, the sound almost imperceptible but clear as day to their sensitive ears. Within a second, Jerry moved from the chair to the other side of the staircase, Dinah now standing but with his free hand covering her mouth to keep her quiet. They watched with differing emotions as Charley snuck Doris out of the house, leaning away from the ray of deadly light that seeped through the crack. Within mere seconds, an inhuman scream cut through the air before being cut short. Doris was dead.

Dinah knew better than to struggle with his claws still deep in her flesh, but the second her released her she turned on him. "Why the hell did you let him do that? Are you that fuckin' retarded? Now not only does he know we're for real, he fuckin' killed Doris!"

"Zip it, Di," Jerry countered calmly. "She was dumb as a lamp post. She'd have gotten on your nerves sooner or later and you'd have done the same thing…or I would have."

"That's not the fuckin' point!"

"Zip. It. You'll get a girlfriend, but it's gotta be someone we both can stand, alright?" Dinah said nothing. She was too pissed to say anything else. She stomped into the den and threw herself into the chair, changing the channel and crossing her arms over her chest like a petulant child. Jerry huffed at her tantrum, but he couldn't say he didn't blame her. He'd promised her something and just when she thought she was going to get it he let it be taken away. He watched her sink further into her anger, taking it out on the apple as she tore at the fruit with her fangs. He hated when she got into these moods; at least he knew how to handle them. He walked to her side and crouched down to be more at her level. "I'll make it up to you, babe." She ignored him. "Di, c'mon." Nothing. She crunched on the apple instead, making it clear that she was beyond pissed. He glared at the apple before snatching it away. That got her attention.

"Hey! Give it back!" She reached for the fruit but stopped when he stood and backed away, which would have forced her to leave the chair. "Fine, you have it." She turned back to the TV even though she was no longer really watching it. "You let someone else take something from me, so why not have my apple, too."

"Now you're just being stupid, Di," he said flatly. "Listen: it's more than just Doris being a dimwit." He took a chance and stepped closer. "If I'd stopped the kid and he got out, he'd still have known for sure what we are, but he'd have been able to bring the police back here for holding someone hostage. If I'd just killed him, his mom and girl would come looking for him. No one cares when adults go missing, but when it's a kid the whole town gets involved; you know that." Still no reaction, but she was clearly paying attention. "This way we got rid of a problem before the fact, let Charley have to live with watching someone burn in front of his eyes, and kept the whole fuckin' neighborhood from banging on our door. "

"And what makes you so sure Charley won't go blabbing in the first place?" she growled.

"He won't. He knows what we are now, and he also knows that no one will believe him. If he goes around telling people his new neighbors are vampires they'd throw him in a padded cell. He'll leave us alone."

"You seem mighty sure of that, Jerry." She turned to him suddenly, her eyes burning with something he'd not seen in a very long time. She was still rightfully angry, but there was a calculation in those emerald orbs that caught him off guard. She stood slowly and stepped towards him. "Come sit down. I'm over the worst of it. I promise."

"Liar."

"Sit down." He sat, not out of obedience, but out of curiosity. He wanted to see exactly what she had in mind. She gracefully slid into his lap, this time facing him and with her knees on either side of his hips. Never one to pass up such an extraordinary view, Jerry's eyes roved over her curves with that familiar lust she'd never tire of. His arms rose up to encircle her waist, the half-eaten apple still in one hand, but she held them away. "I have a question for you: what's your favorite part of my body?" The question took him by surprise. His immediate thought was _every part_, but the way her hands started caressing her shoulders before moving down to her breasts kept him from answering. "Is it these?" she whispered throatily. "Or these…" She moved down to the swell of her hips, unmistakably feminine and erotic as hell. "Or these…" She raised herself up as she stroked her thighs, finally taking his free hand in one of hers. "Or this?" Her breath hitched as she placed his hand between her thighs, that place where no other man would have the pleasure of being.

Jerry's breath was also labored as he restrained himself from throwing himself onto her. She was going somewhere with this and he wanted to know where. "Yeah…all of that," he breathed. He was still a man, after all.

She let go of his hand between her legs and tugged down the neckline of her shirt, pulling the fabric tight over her breasts and drawing his attention to them. He licked his lips like a starving man looking at a meal. "I thought so. Too bad you're not getting any of it for a while."

And with that, she removed herself from his lap and flew up the stairs to their bedroom, locking the door behind her. Realizing what she'd done, Jerry let his head fall back and groaned in frustration. "Fuckin' bitch." He'd let her have her tantrum to get it out of her system, but she was in for some serious payback later on.


	9. Chapter 9

**Omg, it's been months since I last updated?! Holy crap, time needs to slow down! I hope you guys like this chapter since I kept you waiting so long for it. Oh, and about something in the last chapter: I mentioned they were staking out a Wawa so Dinah could go grocery shopping. I forgot that Wawas are an East Coast thing and more than likely don't exist in Vegas. Anyway, for anyone who doesn't know they're convenience stores/gas stations that are full of awesome win (most of the time). Just a little thing I wanted to point out.**

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><p>Vampires didn't tend to dream, but they did recall memories when they slept. Only the most powerful memories, of course, the good and bad ones that forever left their marks on the psyche. Jerry was no exception.<p>

_Tonight definitely could have gone better. He tried to somehow make the fiasco Dinah's fault, but he couldn't. She'd done everything just as she should have. Luck just hadn't been on their side tonight. A cop had seen them feeding from a young drunk couple in a park and proceeded to sound the alarm for backup. He and Dinah had fled before reinforcements could arrive, but not before snapping the officer's neck; Jerry had been none too happy about being interrupted during mealtime and had inadvertently shown his true face to the human. Only Dinah's hand on his arm had stopped him from making a glutton of himself. If nothing else, she was always the voice of reason when it came to protecting their natures from prying eyes._

_ They'd made a break for it, too bloody from their feeding to blend in to a crowd, and too far from their current residence. Somewhere along the way they'd gotten separated. Jerry had been looking for her for nearly an hour when the panic started to set in. _Not again. Not again. _Those two words raced through his mind like some unholy mantra as he tried unsuccessfully to pick up her scent. He remembered the last time they'd been parted; it hadn't ended well for an entire town and a regiment of Nazis. If he didn't find her soon, this city would face that same fate. Not that he really gave a damn._

_ He decided to retrace their steps from the park, careful to avoid being spotted by the patrol cars and K9 units that had arrived. He picked up her scent, that intoxicating blend of strawberries, blood, and the crisp, unmistakable, indescribable aroma that was solely hers. He followed it to the section of the city where old warehouses stood, defiant in the face of time and rejection by their builders. This was where she'd released her hand from his arm to catch her breath for a moment before a sudden noise startled them both into fleeing. Her scent trail led him inside one of the buildings, one that they hadn't set foot in since relocating to Memphis. She was in there now. Somewhere._

_ The moment he entered the dilapidated warehouse he knew something more than a simple wandering off was at play. Another scent mingled with his mate's, a grittier, almost bitter smell. _Human. _So why wasn't there any sign of its blood? Dinah could have easily taken him (or her) even in her unfocused state. He continued farther into the building, confused as to why her scent grew stronger with no sign of her around…until he realized why. He swore his heart had stopped for good when he found her._

_ Dinah was on her knees in a makeshift cage, her arms stretched above her head and bound at the wrists by chains. She was filthy, covered in blood (he couldn't tell how much of it was her own and how much belonged to her previous meal) and sweat and grime, head bowed below her shoulders. He did the only thing he could think to do at the display of his defeated partner: he roared. Through his rage he saw her raise her head towards him. Now he could plainly see the crossbow bolt embedded in her side, blood flowing from the wound. He hissed at the sight of it as if it were to blame. "J-Jerry…" His black eyes went to her face just as she smiled. It was weak and watery, but a smile nonetheless. Without another second's hesitation, he easily pulled the metal apart and tore the chains from her wrists. She fell into his arms almost gratefully, letting out a brief scream as he ripped the bolt from her flesh. "I'm so sorry," she whispered as he cradled her against his chest. "He got me first…" Her tiny smile suddenly disappeared. "Duck!"_

_ He didn't move fast enough; three bullets caught him in the back, sending him back into that blinding rage that was becoming more and more familiar. He dropped her unceremoniously to the floor as he spun, fangs bared, to face their assailant. She was _his, _goddammit! He'd be damned twice over if he allowed someone else to take what belonged to him again. More bullets peppered his chest, but all they succeeded in doing was pissing him off even more. _Silver's for werewolves, asshole!_ The man (a boy, really) finally stepped out of the shadows, a crossbow aimed directly at Jerry's heart. Only Dinah's sudden grip on his ankle kept him from lunging._

_ "She's not yours anymore, demon!" the man said, obviously forcing down his terror. "She told me what you did to her. After I kill you, I'll find a cure for her."_

_ Jerry laughed at the sheer stupidity of such an idea. "She's always mine, boy." He reached down to stroke her head as she rose up on her knees beside him. "Oh, and FYI, there's only one 'cure' for vampirism, and you're nowhere near strong enough to kill even the weakest of our kind."_

_ "Dinah, tell him." Jerry looked down at her bowed head, idly wondering what the human was babbling on about. "Tell him you want to be human again. Tell him what you told me, then get out of the way so I can kill him!"_

_ A tiny sliver of doubt began creeping into his chest; what had she said to this man in the little time they'd been separated? She couldn't really want to be human again after five decades of freedom from death and age…could she? That doubt quickly abated when she sprang around him and knocked the human to the ground, sitting on his chest and holding his arms down beside him. "You think I want this to end?" she snarled, mere inches from his face. "I am perfect. And now, I'm going to rip your throat out!"_

_ Jerry gave a genuine smile at her words, forcing himself to hang back even though every cell in his body screamed at him to rip apart the fucker who touched his mate. "But…you said…"_

_ "I know what I said! I lied. You had me caged like a beast!" She slowly sat up straight, releasing his arms and glaring down at him with blackened eyes that exuded power and a lust for vengeance. It was pretty damn hot. "So just lay there and die like the animal _you_ are."_

_ Her mouth stretched wide, her fangs flashing magnificently in the dim lighting. They didn't notice the hunter-turned-hunted move until it was too late. He pulled a small glass bottle from his coat pocket and smashed it against Dinah's head. The smell of searing flesh and hair confirmed it: _holy water._ Dinah screamed in agony and launched herself away from the man, anything to get away from the burning liquid that ate away at her face. Jerry's first instinct was to go to her, and that split second of hesitation gave their attacker his opportunity to escape. He tore himself away from his mate and pulled the door open…only to be burned in turn by the rays of the rising sun._

The vivid memory of the scorching sunlight jolted him awake. He'd fallen asleep in front of the television (again) and it took him a moment to regain his bearings. That damn dream. In reality, days had passed before he could find her, but his subconscious either couldn't remember or refused to recall that length of time without her. Every time it haunted him he had the kneejerk reaction of gathering Dinah in his arms until her scent enveloped him and calmed him back to sleep. But now he was alone. _Right. Bitchfest this morning._ Truthfully, he was glad she wasn't around to hear his ragged breathing, to see the fear in his eyes at the thought of losing her again. He shook his head to clear it of the memory, but this time he recalled an important fact. When they'd finally made it back home and recovered from the shock of being so badly burned, she'd told him the name of the man who'd captured her: Peter Vincent. That night had been his first attempt to avenge his parents' deaths at their hands, and it would damn sure be his last. The man had obviously chosen to forget his past if his current career choice was any indication; no self-respecting "vampire hunter" or traumatized child would become a stage magician without turning his back on some awful memory.

_Speaking of forgetting…_Jerry turned to the stairs when he heard Dinah's footfalls coming down. The mere sight of her was enough to calm him down, but then he saw how she pointedly ignored him as she turned into the kitchen. She wouldn't hold her grudge long, but with the weight of the dream/memory on his mind he couldn't wait that long. He followed her into the kitchen, watching for a moment while she cored and cut an apple into slices; even when she was angry she was beautiful. He stepped up behind her and closed his hand around hers, not caring about the knife in the slightest, his other arm encircling her waist and pulling her against him. "If this is your way of apologizing, it's not going to work," she huffed.

He didn't answer. He didn't want to argue anymore, not with that goddamn memory still clawing at his brain. He buried his face into the side of her neck and took a deep breath through his nose. His lips ghosted over her tender skin in an almost-kiss, a tiny part of him fearful that he was still dreaming and that he'd really lost her to Vincent that night in Memphis all those years ago. They remained standing at the counter for a long moment until she grew restless. He didn't release her from his hold, but he did allow her to turn to face him. Her eyes instantly softened at his expression, the sheer vulnerability in his face that she'd seen only once or twice before. Her hands immediately went to either side of his head. "Jerry? What's wrong?"

He removed one hand and brought it to his lips. _This is real. She's here, she's not gone. It was just a bad memory._ "I'm sorry for earlier, Di," he whispered. Her eyes widened in surprise at his apology. "I still think Doris was all wrong for us, but I didn't know you'd take it so personally. Just let me talk for a minute." He'd seen that she was about to argue and cut her off. "I love ya, babe, and I know you need someone else to talk to every now and then. I'll make it up to you tonight."

Dinah didn't say anything for a while; she just stared at him. "Are you sick or something?" She lifted her hand from his and touched her wrist to his forehead, brushing his hair out of the way to feel for some kind of fever (although they both knew vampires didn't get fevers). "Wait…" A look of sudden understanding blossomed on her face. "You had the dream again." He looked down, one hand stroking over her shoulder and down her arm. "Jerry, it was a long time ago, and we both survived. I'm not so easy to get rid of." She smiled at the last words, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

It worked…sort of. "I know, Di." Another kiss to the back of her hand had her forgetting their earlier argument, or at least putting it aside for the moment. "You like being a pain in my ass too much."

She laughed in turn. "So. How exactly are you going to make up Doris to me?" Her arms went around his neck and pulled him closer until her backside lightly hit the counter. "And it better be good."

He smiled. "Amy." Dinah tilted her head in a questioning glare. "Think about it: you two can do whatever chick stuff you wanna do, and we stick it to the Brewster kid at the same time. He _was_ the one who took Doris out into the sunlight, wasn't he?"

"Just like you to try to lay blame on someone else." Her voice held no bite even though her words were accusatory. "Although, I do like the idea."

Jerry bent down just enough to hoist her up into the air, her chest at his eye level and her legs instinctively going around his waist. "Thought you might." He pressed his lips into the indentation between her collarbones, then drew her down for a proper kiss. "What do you say we go get her right now?"

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><p><strong>Hermahgawd! Development!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

"Jane, it's Jerry and Dinah from next door," he called through the closed door. "We really need to talk to you." _Don't let 'em in!_ came Charley's hushed voice. _Please, whatever you do, mom, don't invite them in._ "It's about your son. He's been harassing us ever since we moved here."

_Charley, what…?_ Dinah was quickly losing patience with these people. "Jane, he broke into our home. We don't want to go to the authorities, but we will if we have to."

"He's sick. He's deluded!" Jerry ignored the side-eye Dinah gave him for his dramatic proclamation.

A long pause hung between the vampires and their prey. No doubt some kind of wordless argument was taking place between mother and son. "Go call the authorities!"

That was all they needed to hear. Neither spoke as they went to their garage for a few things, then back outside and into the Brewsters' backyard. Dinah had lost her tolerance for dancing around the issue and the games they wanted to play. Jerry quickly dug up the gas line in the yard, sod and dirt flying everywhere, and Dinah yanked it up to saw it in half. They both smirked at their neighbors through the window before igniting the gas and closing the pipe. Seconds later glass and plaster exploded until the wall was nothing more than a distant memory.

The vampires approached the burning ruins ready for a (short-lived) fight. "Don't need an invitation if there's no house." As the three tried to run, Jerry nodded to Dinah, silently telling her to circle the other way while he headed to what was left of the garage. Dinah kept her eyes wide open, her hunter's senses on full alert. She'd expected to hear screams of terror, not the squeal of tires. She hurried to the front of house in time to see her mate strolling casually towards what could almost be called a scooter. "Get on," he called.

"Busted wheel," she informed him. "That thing's not going anywhere."

"Sure it is." More out of rage than anything else, he picked the bike up and hurled it at the fleeing vehicle. The satisfying sound of glass smashing and a feminine scream brought a wicked smile to Dinah's lips. That smile faded as she watched the SUV speed on down the road. "New plan."

They quickly hopped into the Tahoe, Jerry's foot even on the floor. The red taillights ahead grew bigger and brighter as they got closer. She licked her lips in anticipation of the kill, adrenaline pumping through her body, and willed the truck to go faster. Within seconds they were nearly bumper-to-bumper. "Swipe 'em!"

Dinah started rolling her window down after the first hit (a mere tap), intent on leaping onto the SUV and tearing the metal and plastic apart. Jerry's grip on her arm kept her still, though. "Not yet, babe. I got this." He sideswiped their prey again and sped forward. The deserted road became a deathtrap for Amy and the Brewsters when he turned the truck sideways and blocked their path. Jane wouldn't dare try to hit them if there was the slightest chance that Amy or her son might be injured.

Confident that the woman wouldn't try anything stupid, they sauntered out of the truck and took a moment to stare down their dinner. Dinah especially enjoyed this power play when she didn't need to resort to her hypnosis; she just liked seeing the fear in her prey's eyes right before she tore their throats out. Unfortunately, this night was not going to go the way she wanted it to. She just barely dove out of the way when Charley stepped on the gas and crashed into the Tahoe.

She stood and hissed at the fleeing vehicle only to find herself alone on the road. "Jerry!" He'd been hit! _What the actual fucking hell?!_ She forced her anger down and climbed into the driver's seat of the damaged truck (thankfully it was big enough to take a beating and still be operable). The sight of the trail of blood on the pavement enraged her further, but she told herself he was alright, that he was on top of things. _If he's dead I'd have felt it. And I would have to find a way to bring him back just so I can kill him again myself. Bastard._ She shook her head to clear away the unpleasant thoughts. Anger she could handle; fear she refused to tolerate. She hadn't had any use for fear in almost a century, and she sure as hell didn't need it now.

Although she tried to remain calm and rational, each moment she didn't see a single sign of her mate or the SUV that had rammed him her anxiety grew. Finally, after what felt like decades, the tell-tale red glow of taillights came into view. The truck screeched to a halt behind not the Brewsters' SUV, but another small car that looked like it had failed all its safety tests. She jumped down from the cab and took in the scene as quickly as she could.

A totaled car. A dead man in a suit. The charred remains of what looked to be a cross. Glass and blood all over the asphalt. _Fuck that! Where is he?!_ A low growl gave her her answer. She hurried to the sound and found Jerry, broken and bloodied with a…real estate sign in his back? If she didn't know how close he'd come to death (the permanent kind), she'd have found the sight hilarious. As it was, she was just delighted he was still moving. She pulled the stake out of his back and pulled him off the road to finish healing. The sounds of his bones snapping back into place and muscle re-weaving itself made her cringe in sympathy. He would come through it without a single lasting scratch, but she knew it still hurt like a bitch. She stared down the road as if she could force the Brewsters to come back so she could deal with them.

"Ahh, fuck," Jerry groaned. He sat up in the ditch and took a couple of deep breaths to hurry the last of the pain away. "And where the hell were you?"

His aggressive tone took her by surprise. "Hey, don't get an attitude with me. You're the one who didn't move out the way."

"So you just let me get run over by a fuckin' SUV?" He stood and paced up and down the side of the Tahoe.

Dinah was now beyond worrying. She was pissed. "Don't you dare try to blame me for anything. It was your own damn fault they hit you, and apparently yours that they're still breathing when they should be grease stains on the pavement!" The clawed hand that latched around her throat held the whole of her temper back. "Jerry, calm the fuck down. What the hell is wrong with you tonight?"

His eyes darted to his hand as if just realizing what he was doing. He released her and let out a harsh breath through his nose. "It's that fuckin' kid. I knew I should have eaten him and his mom when we first met." That wasn't good enough for Dinah. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "Something about that kid just gets to me."

"He's smart. Been a while since we came up against a smart one. But he's just a kid. He'll screw up, and when he does we can take him and Jane out and keep Amy for ourselves." He didn't respond. "Right?"

"Yeah, sure." He deliberately softened his voice and slowed his movements when he saw she was still irritated. "Babe, I'm sorry I snapped at you." He put his hands on her shoulders and trailed them down her arms. "Let's just get your girlfriend and maybe take care of some old business then split this town."

"Alright, alright. Don't go all girly on me." She opened the driver door and climbed into the seat. "Not a word, Jerry. You pissed me off, so as punishment I get to drive. Now get in."

He smirked as he got in on the other side. "You know I like it when you boss me around, Di."

She couldn't quite stop the smile that forced its way onto her lips. "Quit lying and shut up."

"They took Jane to a hospital. She hit her head after she staked me, the bitch. We can track 'em down after we find out which one they took her to."

"Won't be hard; there's only one nearby." She floored the gas and headed straight for Sacred Heart Memorial, three miles away. "We can't just barge into a hospital and start ripping people apart."

"Why not?"

She half-heartedly smacked at him. _Why can't I ever stay mad at him even when he's a douche?_ "We'll find 'em, then head back home and regroup. They can't stay in there forever. Are any of the pawns ready?"

"One is."

"Aw hell," she groaned when she realized who he meant. "Does it really have to be him? Hell, the stoner would be better. Or at least less annoying."

"He can get closer to Charley. Besides, he's been wanting some payback."

Dinah groaned again. "Fine. But I swear to God if he takes a shot at me I'll rip his fuckin' head off."

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><p><strong>I am soooo sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! I really have no excuse other than constantly getting distracted by other stories. I'll hopefully have this whole story wrapped up in a few more chapters and they won't be months apart anymore. I love you guys!<strong>


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